Daniel ElkelesSector leader

Biography

Daniel Elkeles is Chief Executive of NHS Providers, the membership body representing every NHS hospital, mental health, community and ambulance service trust in England, a role he took up in May 2025. He has been an NHS manager for over 30 years, working across acute, community, regional and commissioning roles. Before joining NHS Providers he served as Chief Executive of London Ambulance Service NHS Trust from August 2021, and prior to that spent nearly seven years as Chief Executive of Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust. He is a Cambridge history graduate and has publicly argued for NHS productivity improvements, greater flexibility for local leaders to deliver neighbourhood health services, and better reward for lower-paid NHS staff. At NHS Providers he acts as the public voice of trust leaders and a key interlocutor between member organisations and central government.

References

1. 1.Daniel Elkeles to become NHS Providers chief executive – NHS Providers — Confirms appointment as Chief Executive of NHS Providers from May 2025, previous role as CEO of London Ambulance Service, and NHS Providers' membership remit
2. 2.Long-serving Chief Executive takes on new challenge – Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals — Confirms six and a half years as CEO of Epsom and St Helier, securing £500m Sutton hospital funding, CQC 'Good' rating, and staff survey improvements
3. 3.Daniel Elkeles – NHS Confederation — Confirms current role as CEO of NHS Providers and over 30 years as an NHS manager across acute, community, regional and commissioning roles
4. 4.Daniel Elkeles: 'There's a lot of green shoots here' – MIP Health — Confirms Cambridge history graduate background; records his public arguments on NHS productivity, neighbourhood health, low-paid staff reward, and member merger priorities
5. 5.

Expertise

Cited on

• Hospital discharge / bed-blocking
• Elderly care & frailty

Stated areas of expertise

• NHS trust sector leadership
• Provider sustainability
• Urgent and emergency care
• NHS productivity and workforce
• Neighbourhood health policy
• Equality, diversity and inclusion in the NHS

Notable achievements

• Appointed Chief Executive of NHS Providers in May 2025, succeeding an interim following the departure of Julian Hartley. Source ↗
• While CEO of Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust, led on plans and secured funding for a new £500m specialist emergency care hospital in Sutton. Source ↗
• Under his leadership Epsom and St Helier achieved a CQC rating of 'Good', with strong staff survey scores on equality, diversity and inclusion and health and wellbeing. Source ↗
• Led London Ambulance Service from the second-lowest ambulance trust in the 2022 NHS staff survey to the second-highest, with the most significant improvement LAS had ever recorded. Source ↗

What they’ve said

• “Carefully designed, they can drive healthy competition between trusts – what Streeting on Tuesday called 'friendly rivalry' – and make trust bosses focus on what ministers say. But, at their worst they can result in 'naming and shaming'.”

  Chief Executive of NHS Providers · Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 27 Aug 2026 · Can the old-but-new NHS league tables revive the health service? ↗

• “The way the NHS provides outpatients services hasn't changed much for decades but during Covid we learned a lot about opportunities for new approaches using digital technology. This is a bold, exciting initiative but the benefits should not come at the cost of destabilising vital services patients will continue to rely on.”

  chief executive of the hospitals group NHS Providers · Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 27 Aug 2026 · NHS ‘online hospital’ plan announced to help cut waiting lists in England ↗

• “Critical parts of the NHS are falling to bits, literally, after years of underinvestment nationally. The safety of patients and staff is at risk.”

  chief executive of hospitals body NHS Providers · Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 27 Aug 2026 · NHS medical negligence liabilities hit £60bn amid surge in maternity payouts ↗

• “Another strike by resident doctors is the last thing the NHS needs, particularly as we head into what's going to be another challenging winter for the heath service.”

Source references

1. Can the old-but-new NHS league tables revive the health service?theguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
2. NHS ‘online hospital’ plan announced to help cut waiting lists in Englandtheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
3. NHS medical negligence liabilities hit £60bn amid surge in maternity payoutstheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
4. Resident doctors in England to go on strike for five days next monththeguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
5. NHS leaders warn of longer waiting times if demand for extra £3bn not mettheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026

Contact & links

• Xhttps://x.com/danielelkelespublished here ↗
• LinkedInhttps://uk.linkedin.com/in/daniel-elkeles-a70152301
• Staff pagehttps://nhsproviders.org/news/daniel-elkeles-to-become-nhs-providers-chief-executive
• Press office emailenquiries@nhsproviders.orgpublished here ↗

Organisational contact points only, each taken from a page the organisation publishes itself. No personal or direct contact details are held or shown.