The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has appointed Catherine Mason (pictured) as chair of Community Health Partnerships (CHP), replacing John Bacon, whose tenure has ended after more than eight years.

CHP is a government-owned private company set up to improve health and social care services via public-private partnerships.

Mason is chair of the Solent NHS Trust, a community and mental health trust in the south of England and an independent member of the Network Rail System Operator Advisory Board.

She has a broad range of experience, including as managing director of NATS’ (National Air Traffic Services) services division, the provider of air traffic control services at large UK airports. She previously worked in Northern Ireland as group chief executive of Translink, a public corporation providing the province’s public transport, plus car parks, parcels and a tours holiday business. She has also worked for Arriva and United Biscuits.

Mason said: “I’m delighted to be joining Community Health Partnerships at a time when there is significant focus on the state of the NHS estate and availability of public capital.  CHP has a unique set of skills and experience in health infrastructure development and I look forward to working with the management team and its staff to deliver its future ambitions.”

Steve Oldfield, chief commercial officer at the DHSC, added: “The need for high-quality estate infrastructure is crucial to the delivery of the NHS Long Term Plan and CHP plays a key role in this. I’m confident that catherine will support the company in achieving its five-year strategy and business objectives. I would also like to add my thanks to John Bacon for his hard work and commitment to CHP over the past eight years and wish him well in the future.”