Richard Wright MBE to become ICB acting chair

Richard Wright MBE is to become acting chair of NHS Derby and Derbyshire Integrated Care Board (ICB), following the departure of current chair John MacDonald.

Richard, who is currently a non-executive member of the board, will take over at the beginning of July, after Mr MacDonald has left.

At the same time Jill Dentith will become a new non-executive board member.

Richard said: “NHS Derby and Derbyshire Integrated Care Board has laid some solid foundations in its first year of existence, and we have worked with partners to articulate our priorities.

“It is important that in our second year, starting from now, we are focussed on delivery to start to turn the tide on some concerning statistics about reduced life expectancy among our population.

“In particular, keeping people healthy for longer will be an important focus to both improve the lives of our population while also reducing the unsustainable demand now facing local NHS services.

“I also want us to focus on the unfair and unequal ways that some of our communities are affected by poor health and the lack of opportunity to improve their health. This was laid bare during the covid pandemic.

“These will be my priorities in the role of acting chair.”

Richard is chair of the Finance Oversight Group for Joined Up Care Derbyshire and until recently he also was chair of the Sheffield University Technical College Multi Academy Trust; and a board member of Sheffield National Centre for Sport and Exercise Medicine.

Jill Dentith is a familiar face in the Derby and Derbyshire NHS, having previously been a board member of Hardwick, North Derbyshire and Derby and Derbyshire Clinical Commissioning Groups.

In these roles Jill had previously chaired a range of committees including the governance and the audit committees and she was a member of the primary care commissioning committee and remuneration committee.

She has had a career of more than three decades in the NHS, covering roles including corporate governance, and she now works as a management consultant supporting the NHS and the public sector with a range of corporate projects.

A decision over when to begin the recruitment of a permanent chair will be taken by the ICB board at a future date.