Vital SignsVital SignsCheck your MP →
BTHDr Neil Hartley-Smith — no licensed photograph is available, so the clinician plate is shown instead.

Clinician

Dr Neil Hartley-Smith

Chief Medical Officer, Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is based in Blackpool South — the organisation’s base, not a personal address.

Press citations

1

Topic

1

Hospital discharge / bed-blocking

Last quoted

Aug 2026

Dr Neil Hartley-Smith: key facts

Kind of voice
Clinician
Role
Chief Medical Officer
Organisation
Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Organisation based in
Blackpool South
Quoted on
Hospital discharge / bed-blocking
Tracked press citations
1
Most recently quoted
27 Aug 2026

Who Dr Neil Hartley-Smith is

Dr Neil Hartley-Smith is Chief Medical Officer at Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, appointed to the role in June 2025. He began his medical career as a junior doctor at the same Trust more than 20 years ago and subsequently spent over 20 years as a GP at Bloomfield Medical Centre in Blackpool. Prior to his current role he served as Clinical and Care Professional Lead for the Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board, and before that as an executive director at Blackpool Fylde and Wyre Clinical Commissioning Groups. He has been publicly quoted on patient safety, record-keeping standards and CQC inspection outcomes at Blackpool Victoria Hospital.

“Doctors are a vital part of the team here at Blackpool, so we took the feedback seriously. Since the RCP visit in October 2024, we have strengthened education and training for our junior doctors, improved the induction and support we give to doctors who trained overseas and ensured that protected learning time is built into rotas.”

References for this biography

  1. 1.Meet the Board – Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust — Confirms appointment as CMO in June 2025, GP background at Bloomfield Medical Centre, ICB and CCG leadership roles, and GP appraiser history.
  2. 2.Hospital boss quizzed over failings that led to patient's fatal attack being missed – Blackpool Gazette — Confirms press identification as Chief Medical Officer at Blackpool Teaching Hospitals and documents his evidence at the Valerie Kneale inquest on record-keeping and patient safety.
  3. 3.Improvements recognised in hospital care across Blackpool and Fleetwood – Blackpool Teaching Hospitals — Confirms his public role responding to CQC inspection outcomes at Blackpool Victoria and Fleetwood hospitals.
  4. 4.New CQC rating for Blackpool Victoria Hospital medical services after new inspection – Blackpool Gazette — Independent press source confirming his title and public statements on CQC improvements.
  5. 5.Neil Hartley-Smith – LinkedIn — Confirms current role as Chief Medical Officer at Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and University of Manchester education.

Notable achievements

  • Appointed Chief Medical Officer at Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in June 2025, having previously served as Clinical and Care Professional Lead for the Lancashire and South Cumbria ICB. Source ↗
  • Spoke publicly as Chief Medical Officer welcoming CQC 'Good' ratings for medical services at Blackpool Victoria Hospital and Fleetwood Hospital following inspections. Source ↗
  • Gave evidence at the inquest into the death of Valerie Kneale at Blackpool Victoria Hospital, addressing record-keeping failings and improvements made since 2018. Source ↗
  • Served as a GP appraiser for more than 19 years, supporting the professional development of fellow GPs. Source ↗

Where Dr Neil Hartley-Smith has been quoted

  1. Leaked report reveals culture of bullying and harassment at scandal-hit NHS hospitaltheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026

Related media coverage

Recent UK press coverage of their topics — not necessarily citing them directly.

Contact & links

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

Doctors, nurses, allied health professionals and other registered clinicians quoted in a clinical capacity. Citations are counted by an automated scan of UK press coverage and may be incomplete. Roles, biographies and contact details are researched and human-reviewed before they appear here; anything not yet reviewed is simply absent rather than shown unverified. This profile was last updated on 5 Oct 2026. See the methodology for how this page is built, or email contact@bridgeheadcommunications.com to correct anything on it.