THE NHS group taking over Fairfield Hospital will get a new chief executive this year.

From the beginning of April Raj Jain will be chief executive of the Northern Care Alliance (NCA).

Mr Jain's appointment follows the announcement in November that Sir David Dalton will be retiring from the post after 40 years in the NHS.

Mr Jain said: "Leading the hugely talented and committed people of the NCA is an immense privilege and honour.

"I have worked in Greater Manchester for nearly 30 years, and have seen great progress in the health and well-being of the citizens of Greater Manchester.

"My burning ambition is to support the people we serve, our staff and partners to achieve even more, even in the most challenging of times.”

Mr Jain is currently deputy chief executive and group chief strategy and organisational development officer at the Northern Care Alliance. He joined Salford Royal in January 2015.

Previously he held the post of managing director of Greater Manchester Academic Health Science Network and before that he was chief executive of Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital NHS Foundation Trust ­— under his leadership it was awarded hospital of the year in 2012.

Mr Jain has been director of two research organisations and held regional and national leadership positions in health development and planning.

Northern Care Alliance has been formed as part of an ongoing scheme to merge Salford Royal with most of Pennine Acute NHS Foundation Trust.

Jim Potter, chairman of Northern Care Alliance told staff: "We are indebted to Sir David Dalton for his significant contribution to Salford Royal and latterly across the Northern Care Alliance; his legacy will continue to benefit our patients and service users, this organisation and its people for many years.

“We have no doubt that Raj will build on the progress made by the Northern Care Alliance and effectively focus on the delivery of our firm strategic aims to achieve the highest standards for service delivery and care.

“We take pride in investing in our staff and nurturing and developing good leaders. We recognise the positive impact of leadership excellence and continuity on the long-term sustainability of a high performance culture.

“The next few years will be a challenging but an exciting time for our organisation to build on the success and achievements, and to progress our vision and strategic plans for the Northern Care Alliance alongside our partners.

"We are wholly confident that Raj has the values, experience and ambition to lead us on this next chapter and to take the NCA into an even more exciting future, with the full support of our staff, the group committees in common, and council of governors”.