New chief medical director looking forward to positive outcomes in Lancashire and South Cumbria

Lancashire and South Cumbria’s new chief medical director vows to “take advantage of the exciting opportunities” that changes in health and care legislation will offer.

David Levy, who has recently been appointed as designate chief medical director for the new NHS Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board (ICB), started his new role on Tuesday 7 June.

With more than 30 years of NHS experience, David is keen to ensure that the local population of Lancashire and South Cumbria “get the best deal offered to them”.

He said: “This is a really exciting time to be part of the NHS as we have this great opportunity to work with social care to ensure we are getting the best deal for our patients and public.

“We want to improve health and care for the local population and we are going to do our best to ensure services are responsive and that patients can access care that’s as close to their homes as possible.”

Following the passing of the Government’s new Health and Care Act, integrated care boards will be introduced from July 1, taking over the organisation of local health and care services from the current clinical commissioning groups, which will be closed down.

David, a clinical oncologist, has previously worked in Sheffield as a cancer specialist with an interest in brain tumours. He developed a research-driven, nationally renowned multidisciplinary team to provide holistic care for patients and their families.

He has also held roles as Sheffield Teaching Hospitals’ director of postgraduate medical education and as the regional North Trent Cancer Network clinical lead.

In 2009, David left the NHS and led cancer services in British Columbia until 2011 as the President of the British Columbia Cancer Agency, where there was an opportunity to look at a different approach to healthcare and the delivery of world-class outcomes.

David has held roles such as medical advisor for cancer to the Department of Health, medical director at United Lincolnshire Hospitals, and regional medical director for Midlands and East NHS England.

Most recently he has been the North West regional medical director at NHS England and NHS Improvement.

He said: “I have made the decision to move from a regional role to a Lancashire and South Cumbria one because I want to be part of a new way of working that delivers better health and care to our public.

“There are a lot of opportunities to do this here as we have a number of great people working in the area and one thing I am passionate about is ensuring we take advantage of the opportunities available to us.”

As part of the new Health and Care Act, local authority organisations are expected to work with the NHS to develop the Lancashire and South Cumbria Health and Care Partnership. This will allow further integrated care and David is keen to make those links with other services delivering health and care within Lancashire and South Cumbria.

He added: “I’m really looking forward to the positive outcomes we’ll see from partnership working with social care, the hospital trusts, primary care, and community care.

“There are a lot of exciting opportunities for everyone who is part of the Lancashire and South Cumbria Health and Care Partnership, which means we’ll be able to deliver a service that is better for our local population.”