Sir James Mackey
Chief Executive Officer, NHS England
Speaker's biography
Sir James Mackey became Chief Executive of NHS England, on an interim basis, on 1 April 2025. Sir James was previously Chief Executive of Newcastle Hospitals Trust, having joined the Trust in January 2024. Prior to that, Sir James was Chief Executive Officer of Northumbria Healthcare for 20 years and, during this time, held a two-year secondment in a national role as Chief Executive of NHS Improvement. Sir James was knighted in 2019 for services to healthcare and was at the forefront of the region’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic, which saw his Trust set up its own factory to make personal protective equipment.
Sir James was Chair of the NHS Customer Board for Procurement and Supply and was appointed by NHS England and NHS Improvement as Senior Responsible Officer and National Director of Elective Recovery for the Elective Programme in Autumn 2021. He was acting Interim Chief Operating Officer of NHS England for a period in 2023. On 1 April 2025, Sir James took up post as Interim Chief Executive Officer of NHS England to lead the transition process of NHS England being taken back into Department of Health and Social Care, a financial reset for the NHS and implementation of the 10 Year Plan.