Graham Urwin has been appointed to the position of Chief Executive of the Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care Board (ICB).
The new ICB for Cheshire and Merseyside will become the statutory element of the subregion’s Integrated Care System (ICS), a new partnership between health and care organisations across Cheshire and Merseyside working to improve population health and reduce inequalities between different groups.
Graham joins the ICB 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 for 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.”
Ian Ashworth, Director of Public Health for Cheshire West and Chester and Lead Director for Population Health and Marmot Community, said:
“On behalf of the Collaborative, I am delighted to welcome Graham into his new role. We are looking forward to working directly with Graham and the wider team at the Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care Board to improve health and wellbeing for all of our residents.”