Dr O'Callaghan, who begins his role later this spring, is a consultant in critical care medicine, the north west London critical care network lead and has been site medical director for Charing Cross Hospital for the past three years.

He will take over the role from Professor Julian Redhead, who is now trust-level chief executive, working alongside existing medical director Professor Raymond Anakwe. 

Dr O'Callaghan said: ‘I'm delighted to be taking on this role, working with Professor Raymond Anakwe to drive improvements to the quality of patient care and experience across the trust. I've seen first-hand how committed our colleagues are to providing the highest quality care to all our patients, during some of the most challenging times in the history of the NHS. We've made huge progress over the past few years – shown by our quality and operational achievements – and I look forward to help colleagues build on this momentum to further improve outcomes for our patients.'

Professor Julian Redhead, trust-level chief executive, said: ‘I am very pleased that David is to become our new medical director. I've been lucky enough to work with David for several years and seen him lead us through some very complex challenges, with our trust values always front and centre. I know he will bring this energy and his extensive leadership qualities to this this new role, working with Raymond to help us realise our quality ambitions for the coming year.'