NHS leadership body appoints director of comms to help communicate 10-year plan

Reynolds, who took up the post last week, now leads comms for the Confederation; the voice of the NHS leadership, it speaks on behalf of organisations that provide, commission and plan NHS services.

The Confederation encompasses about 600 member organisations, including hospitals, mental health and community trusts, independent providers and clinical commissioning groups.

It also brings together the healthcare systems in England, Wales and Northern Ireland to help improve the health of patients and the public.

Reynolds will lead a comms team of 35 people, which includes specialists in public affairs, stakeholder relations, media relations and digital comms, as well as internal comms, events and brand management.

He reports to NHS Confederation chief executive Niall Dickson and sits on the organisation’s senior management team and board.

Reynolds joins from NHS Providers, where he was director of comms for three years.He was succeeded by former BBC health correspondent Adam Brimelow in the autumn.

Reynolds began his career as a journalist, working in print and later as a broadcast news reporter for Sky.

He then became deputy director of comms for health think tank the King's Fund, where he worked for seven years, before moving to health charity the Nuffield Trust as its director of comms, staying for more than six years.

Reynolds told PRWeek his priorities in his new role would include "supporting healthcare leaders to engage with… the new NHS 10-year plan and ensuring it is realistic [and] achievable", as well as supporting local health leaders to work together more collaboratively to deliver joined-up care for the public.

He added: "A major focus will be on supporting emerging local health and care systems that are bringing together providers, commissioners and local councils to plan and respond to the public’s changing healthcare needs.

Reynolds said the Confederation would launch regional networks across England to support local health and care services to achieve this goal.

He added: "My other major priorities include being a strong voice on behalf of the NHS, to safeguard the interests of patients and the healthcare and research they rely on, during the Brexit negotiations; and leading a major national campaign which will make the case for why social care funding needs urgent reform."