Tim Whittlestone is new Bristol Health Partners Chair

Bristol NHS Group Chief Medical and Innovation Officer, Professor Tim Whittlestone, is the new Chair of Bristol Health Partners.

Tim has been appointed for an initial three-year term by the Bristol Health Partners Board. He succeeds Bristol NHS Group Chief Executive, Maria Kane OBE, who has stepped down as Chair.

Tim said:

 “I am proud to take on the role of Chair of Bristol Health Partners as we continue to champion innovations in healthcare to benefit the people of Bristol and beyond.

“Working together with partners across Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire provides us with great opportunities to improve treatments and care and I am excited to see what developments we can make over the next three years.”

Bristol Health Partners Director, Professor David Wynick, said:

“I am delighted to welcome Tim to his new role as our Chair and look forward to working with him as we further embed the principles of evidence, improvement and equity in our region’s health and care system, and beyond.

“I would like to thank Maria for her outstanding leadership since 2022, and I know we will continue to work closely with her, and her Bristol NHS Group team.”

Maria said:

“It has been a privilege – and a real pleasure – to serve as Chair of the Bristol Health Partners Board.

“We are fortunate in our region to have such a proactive health partnership whose Health Integration Teams have driven many improvements – locally and nationally – during my three years as Chair, from improving how stroke services are delivered to changing NHS guidance to make kidney donation safer.

“Congratulations to Tim on stepping into this role. I remain an enthusiastic advocate for Bristol Health Partners and look forward to seeing it go from strength to strength with Tim as its Chair.”

Tim is the inaugural Chief Medical Officer for the Bristol NHS Group – one of the biggest NHS organisations in England – and the Executive Lead for Research, Development and Innovation across the Group.

A Consultant Urologist for 25 years at the Bristol Royal Infirmary and then Southmead Hospital, Tim also served as Clinical Lead for Mass Covid Vaccination in Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire and Chief Medical Officer for NHS Nightingale Bristol during the pandemic.

He is Vice Chair of Somerset, Wiltshire, Avon and Gloucestershire Cancer Alliance, chairs the South West Genomics Medicine Strategy Board, and is Visiting Professor of Healthcare Technology at the University of the West of England (UWE Bristol).