A senior member of the NHS Commissioning Board (NHS CB) is set to move to a private healthcare firm.
It has been confirmed Jim Easton, Director of Transformation at the NHS CB, has been approached by health and social care service provider Care UK to fulfill a managing director role.
The move is now subject to an approval process.
“We can confirm that Jim Easton has been approached about a job opportunity by an organisation in the independent health sector,” said a spokesperson from the NHS CB.
“Because this would be an outside appointment, it is subject to approval in line with the business appointment rules for senior DH staff moving to new roles in the independent sector.”
Easton also serves as National Director for Improvement and Efficiency at the Department of Health (DH) and has been a champion of the national Quality, Innovation, Productivity and Prevention (QIPP) agenda to support the NHS in its bid of making £20bn worth of efficiency savings.
Care UK spokesperson Sheila Roberts confirmed the organisation held “discussions” with Easton.
“After Dr Mark Hunt left Care UK back in the summer we started the search for a new managing director of our healthcare division,” she said.
“We can confirm that we have had discussions with Jim Easton however, as any movement of senior Department of Health employees to new roles in the independent sector is subject to business appointment rules, it would not be appropriate for me to comment further at this stage.”
