NHS Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board (ICB) is delighted to announce that Sarah Truelove has been appointed as its new Chief Executive and will start her new role in the summer of 2025.

Sarah will take over from long serving Chief Executive, Mary Hutton when she retires later this year.

Sarah joins the ICB from NHS Bristol, North Somerset, and South Gloucestershire ICB where she has been Deputy Chief Executive and Chief Finance Officer since 2018.

She has built up substantial leadership experience over her 30-year career in the NHS, having worked in commissioning and provider organisations, including several years at Gloucestershire Primary Care Trust and Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

Outside her NHS role Sarah enjoys spending time with her husband and three grown up children and is a carer for her mother who has parkinson’s disease. She enjoys wild swimming (the colder the better) and walking, particularly on the Cornwall coast.

Sarah said:

“I am thrilled to be joining NHS Gloucestershire and the One Gloucestershire Integrated Care System at such an important time for health and care.

There is no doubt that the coming years are going to present huge service and financial challenges for the NHS and care partners as we continue recovery, deliver on the health priorities of local people and prepare the ground for a strong and sustainable NHS longer term.

I know from my own experience that I’m joining a system in Gloucestershire that has a very strong tradition for close partnership working and this will be essential as we tackle the challenges and opportunities ahead together.”

Chair of NHS Gloucestershire ICB, Dame Gill Morgan said:

“I’m so pleased that we are in a position to appoint such a strong and well-respected leader for Gloucestershire. Sarah’s experience, knowledge and her determination and dynamism to provide the best possible care in such a challenging financial environment will stand the county in very good stead.

I am looking forward to Sarah joining us and I know she is very keen to work with our health and care professionals, partners, patients and public to help meet our shared priorities for the future.”

Local GP and Gloucestershire Local Medical Committee (LMC) Chair, Dr Bob Hodges said:

“It’s great to be welcoming Sarah back to Gloucestershire where she has spent much of her NHS career.

She’s a fantastic fit for this key leadership role at such a crucial time for health and care in Gloucestershire. Sarah is well placed to use all her skills and experience to engage together with leaders and teams in all service areas, to navigate the challenges ahead.

It’s clear that she shares our ambition to build healthier communities, resilient services and is committed to making a lasting difference to the lives of the people we serve and health professionals by listening to what is important to them.”

Regional Director for NHS South West, Elizabeth O’Mahony said:

“I’m delighted that Sarah has been appointed as NHS Gloucestershire ICB Chief Executive. She has extensive experience across the NHS and throughout her career has shown great leadership and vision, which I know will be a great asset for Gloucestershire’s health and care community, the people they serve and the wider South West team.”

Sarah Truelove

Sarah has been Deputy Chief Executive and Chief Finance Officer at Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board since 2018 and before that was Deputy Chief Executive and Director of Finance at Royal United Hospitals in Bath.Sarah joined the NHS as a graduate trainee specialising in finance and worked her way to the role of Chief Finance Officer – a position she has held for over twenty years in a range of commissioning and provider organisations. This includes seven years in Gloucestershire.

She is a CIPFA-qualified accountant with extensive experience in strategic financial planning, use of data and intelligence for decision-making and engagement with the wider NHS.

Sarah is Co-Chair of the NHS Confederation’s Productivity forum.