Roy Lilley's NHSManagers.net e-Letter Podcasts Sir Jim Mackey in conversation with Niall Dickson and Roy Lilley
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Oct 13, 2025 Sir Jim Mackey, a seasoned NHS leader and interim Chief Executive of NHS England, discusses pressing challenges facing the health service. He shares his motivations for taking on this role and reflects on the abrupt abolition of NHS England. Mackey emphasizes the need for rapid reforms to tackle finances and waiting lists while addressing staff anxiety over redundancy funding. He also advocates for enhanced community care, improved engagement with clinical staff, and the restructuring of leadership roles to foster better performance within the NHS.
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Northumbria's Local Innovations
- Roy describes Jim's Northumbria trust as entrepreneurial, creating in-house PPE and domiciliary care to solve discharge issues.
- These local innovations funded services and improved performance without waiting for central solutions.
Why Jim Took The Role
- Sir Jim accepted the role out of public service duty and to prevent the NHS from drifting further into crisis.
- He did not expect the sudden abolition of NHS England and found the timing and execution surprising.
Doing Many Big Things At Once
- Jim says the service must tackle finances, reorganisation and waiting lists simultaneously despite the risk of overload.
- He argues some longer-term reforms must accelerate because they free up capacity for immediate pressures.