Sir James returned to his role as Chief Executive of Northumbria Healthcare NHS FT in November 2017 after a two-year secondment in a national role as Chief Executive of NHS Improvement. He was knighted in 2018 for services to healthcare and has been at the forefront of the region’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic, which saw his Trust set up its own factory to make PPE. Sir James has recently been appointed by NHS England and NHS Improvement as SRO and National Director of Elective Recovery for the Elective Programme built up during Covid supporting the national team to address the elective backlog. Sir James is also Chair of the NHS Customer Board for Procurement and Supply.