Sir David Nigel Dalton is the interim chief executive of

Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is the Trust responsible for managing Aintree University Hospital, Broadgreen Hospital, Liverpool University Dental Hospital and the Royal Liverpool University Hospital. The new organisation, wh ...

and previously

Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust operated Salford Royal Hospital in Greater Manchester until 2017. Its chief executive is Dr Owen Williams. In December 2017 it was announced that the Trust was to form a new healthcare organisation by combining ...

and

Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust was an acute hospital trust which, until 2019, operated Fairfield General Hospital in Bury, North Manchester General Hospital, the Royal Oldham Hospital and Rochdale Infirmary, all in Greater Manchester. It is no ...

in northern England. In April 2016, he was appointed as Chief Executive of

, in addition to his role as Chief Executive of

, a post he held since 2001. He stepped down from the roles in March 2019, around the time that management of both trusts was combined under the

Northern Care Alliance NHS Group The Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust (NCA) is an NHS foundation trust in Greater Manchester, England. History It was created on 1 April 2017 by way of a formal partnership of two NHS Trusts - Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust and Th ...

. Dalton joined the

National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...

(NHS) as an administrative trainee in 1980. In April 2011 he was named as the tenth highest paid employee (£232,600) in the English NHS. In February 2014 he was asked by the Secretary of State for Health,

Jeremy Hunt Jeremy Richard Streynsham Hunt (born 1 November 1966) is a British politician who has served as Chancellor of the Exchequer since 14 October 2022. He previously served in the Cabinet as Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport ...

, to advise him how to "make it easy for NHS super-heads to take over struggling organisations". His report, produced in December 2014, suggested that concessions could be established by which companies are given contracts to operate publicly funded hospitals. He points to

Ribera Salud Ribera Salud is a healthcare provider based in Valencia. 90% is owned by Centene and 10% by Banco Sabadell. It was originally awarded the contract to the Hospital de la Ribera in Alzira, Valencia under a Private Finance Initiative scheme in 1999. ...

Grupo in Spain and

AMEOS group AMEOS group is a Swiss hospital group which runs 68 facilities in Germany and Austria, including a significant amount of public healthcare. It was set up in 2002 in Zurich by physician Axel Paeger. AMEOS identifies and buys failing hospitals. Majo ...

in Germany and Austria as examples that could be followed.

2016 junior doctor negotiations

In January 2016, Dalton was appointed by Hunt to act as the chief negotiator on behalf of the government and

NHS Employers NHS Employers is an organisation which acts on behalf of NHS trusts in the National Health Service in England and Wales. It was formed in 2004, is part of the NHS Confederation, and negotiates contracts with healthcare staff on behalf of the gov ...

in negotiations with the

British Medical Association The British Medical Association (BMA) is a registered trade union for doctors in the United Kingdom. The association does not regulate or certify doctors, a responsibility which lies with the General Medical Council. The association's headquar ...

(BMA) over the junior doctors' contract. After the BMA declined a final offer to end the dispute in February, Dalton wrote to Hunt that negotiations had finished and to "do whatever it deems necessary to end uncertainty for the service". The Secretary of State then announced on 11 February 2016 that the contracts would be unilaterally imposed with no further negotiations. In support of Dalton's letter to the Secretary of State advising the government, the names of twenty NHS chief executives were appended following a paragraph stating "I confirm that this position is supported by both the

NHS Confederation The NHS Confederation, formerly the National Association of Health Authorities and Trusts, is a membership body for organisations that commission and provide National Health Service services founded in 1990. The predecessor organisation was calle ...

and

NHS Providers NHS Providers is the membership organisation for NHS trusts in England, which takes part in negotiations between the trusts and the Department of Health and provides development support to trust leaders. Until 2011, it was a section of the NHS Con ...

, together with support from chief executives across the country, and their names are supplied." However, ten of the executives later denied they had supported the imposition and Dalton later admitted that chief executives named had not signed the letter.

Awards and recognition

Dalton was knighted in the New Year Honours 2014 and was one of the top ten chief executives in the NHS in 2013 according to the ''

Health Service Journal ''Health Service Journal'' (''HSJ'') is a news service that covers policy and management in the National Health Service (NHS) in England. History The '' Poor Law Officers' Journal'' was established in 1892. In 1930, it changed its name after ...

''. In 2015 and 2016 the HSJ rated him as the top chief executive.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dalton, David Nigel Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Administrators in the National Health Service English healthcare chief executives