Appointment of Designate Chief Executive

We are pleased to confirm that, following a robust recruitment process, Graham Urwin has been appointed to the position of Designate Chief Executive of the Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care Board (ICB).

Graham joins from his current role as Director of Performance and Improvement at NHS England North West, a role with responsibility for system leadership and oversight of NHS commissioners and providers in the North West region. Graham has a finance background in both local government and the NHS and has worked at local, regional and national level. He has also worked across both commissioning and provider organisations. Graham has also been the Regional Incident Director throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.

David Flory, Interim Chair of Cheshire and Merseyside Health and Care Partnership, said: “The confirmation of Graham in this role is a significant step in the development of integrated care in Cheshire and Merseyside and the establishment of an NHS Integrated Care Board which, subject to legislation, will hold a substantial budget for commissioning high quality patient care, and have the authority to establish performance arrangements to ensure this is delivered.

“I am sure our partners will join me in welcoming Graham and continuing to work with him and other colleagues on improving care for the people of Cheshire and Merseyside.”

The next step will be to recruit non-executive members and executive directors to the ICB over the coming weeks. Updates will be shared as this work progresses.