Vanessa Purday

Who Vanessa Purday is

Dr Vanessa Purday is Chief Medical Officer at Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, where she holds core CMO responsibilities including operations, strategy, safety, pharmacy, medical education, clinical scientists, and serving as the Trust Responsible Officer. She is a practising Consultant Anaesthetist with a special interest in intensive care medicine and brings over 30 years' experience in the NHS, having previously served as Chief Medical Officer at Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust and in a number of leadership roles at East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust, including Deputy Chief Medical Officer and Clinical Director for Surgery and Anaesthetics. She trained in the South West and spent seven years as a consultant anaesthetist at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital before working in Australia. She is a Fellow of the Royal College of Anaesthetists and the Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine, and a graduate of the NHS Leadership Academy Nye Bevan programme. She has been publicly quoted on issues including maternity service safety and staffing pressures in NHS Devon.

References for this biography

1. 1.Executive Directors – NHS Royal Devon — Current role, CMO responsibilities, clinical background, fellowships, and leadership qualifications
2. 2.Dr Vanessa Purday appointed as Chief Medical Officer for Service Strategy and Operations – NHS Royal Devon — Appointment announcement, previous role at Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust, NHS Leadership Academy credentials, scope of CMO role
3. 3.Meet our new Chief Medical Officer – Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust — Prior appointment as CMO at LGT, leadership roles at East Kent Hospitals, career background
4. 4.North Devon District Hospital's maternity unit set to temporarily close due to staff levels – ITV News West Country — Recent press quote as Royal Devon CMO on maternity service safety and staffing
5. 5.Latest news for our members and stakeholders September 2025 – Royal Devon — Confirms start date of 1 September 2025 at Royal Devon, clinical background and fellowship details

Notable achievements

• Appointed Chief Medical Officer at Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust from 1 September 2025, responsible for professional leadership across medical and clinical staff for the population of north and east Devon. Source ↗
• Awarded the NHS Leadership Academy Award in Executive Healthcare Leadership and completed the NHS Leadership Academy Nye Bevan programme. Source ↗
• Served as Chief Medical Officer at Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust from June 2023, having previously been Deputy Chief Medical Officer and Interim Medical Director at East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust. Source ↗
• Publicly led communications on the temporary suspension of North Devon District Hospital's maternity unit due to consultant and medical staffing shortfalls, July 2026. Source ↗

What Vanessa Purday has said

• “We know that it takes two weeks from the decision when we know we're ready and that's about moving staff, moving equipment, rewriting rotas. I just want to reassure people that it remains our absolute priority. We recognise the worry and the concern it causes but I want to emphasise that we need to make sure that when we reopen we reopen safely and in a way that we can stay open so that you have confidence in that.”

  Chief medical officer at the Royal Devon trust · Maternity & neonatal · 30 Sept 2026 · North Devon maternity unit closure: What are the next steps? ↗

• “We fully recognise the fear and anxiety the temporary suspension continues to create for families in our community. Our number one priority is to reopen these services as soon as possible and we are conducting a reopening 'readiness assessment' every two weeks.”

  chief medical officer at the trust · Maternity & neonatal · 30 Sept 2026 · Baby stillborn after mum sent to different hospital in Devon maternity crisis ↗

• “Whilst we've made good progress and we have recruited to both our consultant and registrar voters. We don't have the numbers of doctors we need to do reopen safely and keep the service open safely.”

  Chief Medical Officer, Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust · Maternity & neonatal · 29 Sept 2026 · North Devon maternity unit reopening date delayed ↗

• “We know this will be deeply disappointing news for women, birthing people, families, our local communities and staff, who were hoping to see birthing services return at the end of this month. We also recognise the ongoing uncertainty and anxiety the temporary suspension has caused, and we are sorry that we are not yet in a position to reopen the service.”

  Chief Medical Officer · Maternity & neonatal · 29 Sept 2026 · Maternity unit cannot safely reopen as planned | ITV News ↗

• “We know that it takes two weeks from the decision when we know we're ready and that's about moving staff, moving equipment, rewriting rotas. I just want to reassure people that it remains our absolute priority. We recognise the worry and the concern it causes but I want to emphasise that we need to make sure that when we reopen we reopen safely and in a way that we can stay open so that you have confidence in that.”

  Chief Medical Officer at the Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust · Maternity & neonatal · 29 Sept 2026 · North Devon maternity unit closure: What are the next steps? ↗

• “We fully recognise the fear and anxiety the temporary suspension continues to create for families in our community.”

  chief medical officer for the Trust · Maternity & neonatal · 29 Sept 2026 · Meeting on maternity services suspension in North Devon ↗

• “The trust has a responsibility to make decisions based on clinical risk, patient safety and the available evidence. The decision to temporarily suspend birthing services was reached through established clinical, executive and system governance processes when safe staffing could no longer be assured.”

  Chief medical officer of Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust · Maternity & neonatal · 27 Aug 2026 · Trust’s top doctor resigns in protest over North Devon maternity services ↗

• “The trust has a responsibility to make decisions based on clinical risk, patient safety and the available evidence.”

  Chief medical officer at Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust · Maternity & neonatal · 27 Aug 2026 · Health boss resigns over maternity unit closure ↗

Where Vanessa Purday has been quoted

1. North Devon maternity service could reopen by end of Septemberbbc.co.uk · 30 Sept 2026
2. North Devon maternity unit closure: What are the next steps?bbc.co.uk · 30 Sept 2026
3. Baby stillborn after mum sent to different hospital in Devon maternity crisisdevonlive.com · 30 Sept 2026
4. North Devon maternity unit reopening date delayedbbc.co.uk · 29 Sept 2026
5. Maternity unit cannot safely reopen as planned | ITV Newsitv.com · 29 Sept 2026
6. North Devon maternity unit closure: What are the next steps?bbc.com · 29 Sept 2026
7. Meeting on maternity services suspension in North Devonbbc.com · 29 Sept 2026
8. Trust’s top doctor resigns in protest over North Devon maternity servicesnorthdevongazette.co.uk · 27 Aug 2026
9. Health boss resigns over maternity unit closurebbc.co.uk · 27 Aug 2026

Related media coverage

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

• 'Being able to stay in hospital with our son meant everything'BBC
• New funding targets Kentucky’s maternal mortality rateSpectrum News
• Harris County Is the Worst Place in the US to Give Birth as a Black Woman. One Artist Is Doing Something About It.Houstonia Magazine

Contact & links

• Staff pagehttps://www.royaldevon.nhs.uk/about-us/board-of-directors/executive-directors/
• LinkedInhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/vanessa-purday-529523255/
• Press office phone01392 411611published here ↗

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