David Nicholson

Sir David Nicholson is a public policy analyst and NHS Manager who is the Chair of Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust. He was previously the Chief Executive of the National Health Service in England. He was appointed in October 2011 following the NHS reforms, having been seventh Chief executive of the NHS within the Department of Health since September 2006. He issued what has become known as the "Nicholson challenge" regarding the finances of the NHS. He retired from the role on 1 April 2014 in the wake of the Stafford Hospital scandal.

Background Nicholson was educated at Forest Fields Grammar School in Nottingham, and graduated from Bristol Polytechnic (now known as the University of the West of England) with a 2:1 in History and Politics.

He joined the Communist Party of Great Britain after graduation, and remained a member of the party until 1983. his fifth job-change in a year.

Sir David issued a full apology, saying "I apologise to them on behalf of the NHS as a whole and for the fact that those patients, relatives and carers found themselves in the position where they not only had terrible things happen to them but the very organisation they looked to for support let them down in the most devastating of ways."

Nonetheless campaigners whose family members died unnecessarily at the Stafford hospital have called for his resignation. An early day motion by Bristol MP Charlotte Leslie in February 2013 calling for Nicholson's resignation was supported by 20 MPs from both the ruling coalition Conservative party and the opposition Labour party.

Chief executive of NHS (2006–2014) Nicholson became the seventh NHS Chief executive in September 2006.

In October 2011, he was appointed Chief executive of the NHS Commissioning Board Special Health Authority, a transitional body established in shadow form to set up the eventual NHS Commissioning Board. Its role is to make all the necessary preparations for the successful establishment of the NHS Commissioning Board (NHS CB) in April 2013. In the meantime, all current NHS planning and delivery responsibilities still remain with the Department of Health, strategic health authorities and primary care trusts. The NHS Commissioning Board was renamed 'NHS England' on 1 April 2013.

In September 2011, The Daily Telegraph revealed that Nicholson claimed expenses of over £50,000 a year on top of a basic salary of £200,000 and benefits in kind of £37,600 at a time when he was asking the health service to make cuts of £20 billion by 2015. His claim was three times an MP's accommodation allowance. His resignation was a sequel to the Stafford Hospital scandal, because it was he who was in charge of "the regional health authority responsible for the hospital" at the height of the failings between 2005 and 2006.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt praised Sir David's leadership, saying: "NHS waiting times have fallen, infection rates [have been] reduced, and mixed sex accommodation is at an all-time low. His job has often been incredibly complex and very difficult, and yet he has always had a reputation for staying calm, and maintaining a relentless focus on what makes a difference on the NHS frontline."

NHS chair He was appointed interim Chair of Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust in March 2018. He was later appointed to the role of Chair on a permanent basis during December 2018. He was announced as Chair of Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust in March 2021, replacing the retiring Richard Samuda from the beginning of May. In July 2022 he was also appointed chair of Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust as he relinquished the job in Worcestershire.

Cyprus He was appointed chairman of the newly-established State Health Services Organisation in Cyprus in 2018.

Personal life He is divorced from his first wife; their family home was in Harrogate, and the couple have two sons. He is presently married to Sarah-Jane Marsh, who was a former intern on the NHS-graduate scheme, and became Chief executive of Birmingham Children's Hospital in 2009.

Nicholson is a supporter of Nottingham Forest Football Club.

Honours Nicholson was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2004 New Year Honours. He received an honorary Doctorate from University of Central England, Birmingham. He was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) in the 2010 New Year Honours.