South Cumbria and Lancashire's new rchief medical director vows to “take advantage of the exciting opportunities” that changes in health and care legislation will offer.

David Levy, who has recently been appointed as designate chief medical director for the new NHS Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board (ICB), started his new role on Tuesday 7 June.

With more than 30 years of NHS experience, David is keen to ensure that the local population of Lancashire and South Cumbria “get the best deal offered to them”.

He said: “This is a really exciting time to be part of the NHS as we have this great opportunity to work with social care to ensure we are getting the best deal for our patients and public.

“We want to improve health and care for the local population and we are going to do our best to ensure services are responsive and that patients can access care that’s as close to their homes as possible.”

Following the passing of the Government’s new Health and Care Act, integrated care boards will be introduced from July 1, taking over the organisation of local health and care services from the current clinical commissioning groups, which will be closed down.

As part of the new Health and Care Act, local authority organisations are expected to work with the NHS to develop the Lancashire and South Cumbria Health and Care Partnership. This will allow further integrated care and David is keen to make those links with other services delivering health and care within Lancashire and South Cumbria.