Trusts name first joint CEO

A chief executive has been appointed to lead ambulance services for a population of about nine million, in a new group of two trusts.

Simon Ashton is currently the hospital chief executive of Newham University Hospital, which is part of Barts Health Trust.

He will become the first joint CEO of South East Coast and South Central ambulance service foundation trusts.

They have begun forming a group and together will be bigger than all other English ambulance trusts except London.

The trusts recruited together, and the appointment had to be confirmed by both their councils of governors. They have said they do not plan to merge, but are working together on areas including workforce planning, digital, clinical collaboration, service resilience, and staff wellbeing.

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Source: HSJ, 24 April 2026