Spire Healthcare has appointed Alison Dickinson (pictured), formerly the group’s chief nursing officer, to the newly created role of group clinical director – responsible for overseeing quality of care across the Spire’s 39 hospitals and 11 clinics.

Dickinson will join the hospital group’s executive leadership team.

Prior to joining the company in 2013 as head of clinical services at Spire’s Leicester hospital, Dickinson worked extensively in the NHS in senior clinical management roles.

In her new role, Dickinson will oversee the setting of quality strategy standards across all clinical sites, as well as leading key relationships with regulators such as the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and will provide clinical guidance for Spire’s commercial and operational initiatives.

In addition to her role at Spire, she is vice chair of Department of Health Independent Sector Nursing Advisory Forum.

“This is a very exciting opportunity to further embed high standards of quality across all our clinical sites. We have built a specialist team who are able to support all our hospitals and clinics ensuring we maintain high quality patient care. I am delighted to be joining the executive team as it’s important that the reality of what is happening on a ward can be brought to life in the boardroom as well,” said Dickinson.

“I spend a large proportion of my time in our hospitals and it’s vital that I can take any feedback or learnings from those site visits and reflect that clinical voice at the most senior level.”

Justin Ash, chief executive at Spire Healthcare, said: “This an important, newly created role and I am very happy that Alison has agreed to take it on following her outstanding work as our chief nursing officer.

“Quality of care is the number one priority for our organisation and it is critical we maintain a high standard of delivery for our r patients wherever they choose to be treated with us.”