Liverpool Health Partners (LHP) is delighted to announce the appointment of Professor Nicola Wilson as Chief Operating Officer (Deputy Chief Executive).

Prof Wilson will take up her post at LHP, the Academic Health Sciences System for Cheshire and Merseyside, early in 2022.

Nicola joins LHP from the Northern Health Science Alliance (NHSA) where she spent six years, initially as a consultant before being named Chief of Staff in 2017 and Deputy Chief Executive in 2019.

Prof Wilson said: “I am incredibly grateful to the NHSA for six amazing years working alongside the core team and the Alliance members.

“I am now excited to be bringing my knowledge and experience to Liverpool Health Partners.

LHP is renowned for improving the health outcomes of its population, and with Liverpool being the city of my birth and heritage, the region is incredibly close to my heart.

“I know the people, the culture, the health systems, and research expertise of Cheshire and Merseyside, and making my own contribution to the health and life science community is what I am most looking forward to.”

Dr Dawn Lawson, Chief Executive of Liverpool Health Partners, said: “I am delighted to welcome Prof Wilson as our new Chief Operating Officer.

“Nicola has a wealth of experience in the health and life science sector and a strong background of collaborative working which is crucial to the successful working of our organisation and the local system as we move into the next stage of our development.”

Prof Wilson’s appointment follows the decision by Dr Mark Jackson to move into retirement and therefore stand down as Director of Delivery and Performance and Deputy Chief Executive.

Dr Jackson served LHP as Director of Delivery and Performance and Deputy Chief Executive for three years.

Dr Lawson said: “I would like to extend my sincere thanks to Mark for his hard work and dedication on behalf of LHP during a critical time in its development.

“He has led the developments of the organisation and we are now a well governed, resilient organisation.

“Mark has been a great colleague and is an important and popular member of the Executive Team who will be missed by his colleagues. I wish him a happy and fulfilling retirement.”

Dr Jackson said: “It has been my privilege and pleasure to work as a member of this academic health science system for the last three years. 

“Liverpool Health Partners has provided a fitting end to a blended career in academia and the NHS through the opportunity to work at scale, and I wish the partnership and colleagues every success in the future.”

Prof Wilson’s early career began as a CBT therapist in adult mental health psychological services.

She had an initial 15 years’ experience of service design and strategic leadership of mental health and wellbeing services within the NHS and higher education sectors and programme leadership of undergraduate and postgraduate study pathways in mental health and wider applications of CBT. After leaving the University sector she went on to lead a team of health professionals hosted within the NHS to build engagement, knowledge exchange and research collaboration between the north of England and regions across Europe.

Prof Wilson started working for the NHSA in an advisory capacity in October 2015, initially providing consultancy services on bespoke projects, and was appointed full time Chief of Staff in September 2017.

In January 2019, she was appointed Deputy Chief Executive and from February 2019 to September 2019 acted as Interim Chief Executive.

During her interregnum period Prof Wilson successfully led the bid writing process for future funding from Research England, resulting in the NHSA securing £2.7m.

Her senior operational role at the NHSA also included leadership of the supra-regional healthy ageing network, from which a multi-institution Memorandum of Understanding with Canadian institutions was created in 2019.

She was conferred with the title of Professor in Practice by The Wolfson Research Institute for Health and Wellbeing and the Department of Psychology at Durham University.

Dr Séamus O’Neill, Chief Executive at the NHSA, said: “Nicola’s legacy within the NHSA will be a lasting one thanks to not only her instrumental strategic and operational input over the last six years, but also due to her compassionate, caring and inclusive approach to all aspects of her work. She will be a huge miss from the team, but I’m delighted that she will remain within the North’s health science sector.

“On behalf of everyone at the NHSA, I wish her all the very best in her new role with Liverpool Health Partners.”