Posted on: 25 February 2025
Cathy Elliott will be stepping down from her role as Chair of NHS West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board (ICB) to take on a new role as Chief Executive of NHS Cheshire and Merseyside ICB.
She will be the successor in
Cheshire and Merseyside to Graham Urwin, who announced last November that he will retire in June this year after 42 years in public service.
Cathy has been Chair of the West Yorkshire ICB since late 2021, working with its Chief Executive and Board to establish the ICB in summer 2022. Alongside her ICB Chair role, she is also Deputy Chair of the West Yorkshire Integrated Care Partnership.
Cathy’s experience in the senior NHS, government and community roles across the North of England and nationally, combined with her expertise in strategy and policy development, have been invaluable to her role as Chair of the ICB Board.
Cathy said: “It has been a privilege to have been involved in the development of the West Yorkshire integrated care system and ICB over a number of years.
“I am grateful to all my ICB colleagues and system partners in West Yorkshire for their support throughout my time as Chair, working together with a shared purpose.”
“I know how committed health and care services in West Yorkshire are in collaborating to improve the health of our diverse communities. I am immensely proud of all that we have achieved together as a partnership, including striving to reduce health inequalities, and I have no doubt that this will continue in the future.”
Rob Webster CBE, Chief Executive of NHS West Yorkshire ICB, said: “I would like to thank Cathy for her dedication to the NHS and her commitment as a system leader to improving the lives of the people and communities of West Yorkshire.
“I am grateful for the support she has given to me, our Executive team and our Board as we have navigated some very challenging and at times, unchartered, waters over the past several years.
“We will miss Cathy’s outstanding leadership but are pleased that the NHS will continue to benefit from her wealth of skills and experience. We wish her all the very best in her new role.”
Cathy will leave West Yorkshire at the end of May this year and start her new role in Cheshire and Merseyside in June. The West Yorkshire ICB will shortly advertise the role of ICB Chair to allow for an open and competitive process to take place.