NHS Confederation chief executive Stephen Dalton has stepped down from his role as chief executive of the NHS Confederation Mental Health Network (MHN).

Dalton stated his need to focus on leading the NHS Confederation, of which he is interim chief executive, through a period of unprecedented healthcare challenges as his main reason for stepping down from the MHN.

Dalton, a nurse by background, has been associated with the NHS for 40 years and has been a provider chief executive for 17 years. He has been MHN chief executive for over three and a half years. Dalton became interim chief executive of the NHS Confederation earlier this year after Rob Webster stepped down from the post.

MHN represents providers from across the statutory, for-profit and voluntary sectors and over 90% of all NHS trusts and foundation trusts in England delivering mental health services. The organisation will begin recruiting for a new chief executive later this month.

Dalton said: “It's been a privilege to represent colleagues on the front line of delivering mental health services. We've travelled a long way in recent years but there's more to do. The argument about the importance of mental health has been won but we've yet to see this fully translate into parity of investment in frontline services.”