NHS England appoints deputy chief dental officers

18 November 2015
Volume 31 · Issue 6

NHS England has appointed Janet Clarke and Eric Rooney as deputy chief dental officers. They will both work part time reporting to Sara Hurley.

As senior members of the Medical Directorate, they will work in partnership with other directorates, domain leads and other clinical leaders in regional and local area teams to improve outcomes for patients, and support the role of dentists and dentistry across the health system.

Janet Clarke qualified from the University of Birmingham in 1981. Janet is currently associate director for the Dental Services in Birmingham Community Healthcare Trust and will start in the role on January 1, 2016. Her career has included the domains of wider healthcare policy, dental commissioning and undertaking operational healthcare management and strategic leadership assignments.

Janet said: “I look forward to joining NHS England and working to further develop initiatives to continue to improve the oral health of adults and children, particularly the most vulnerable in our society”

Eric Rooney qualified from the University of Dundee in 1983. Eric, who joined NHS England in November from PHE where he is a consultant in dental public health in the North West, said: “I am excited about this opportunity to work with NHS England and the dental profession to develop and transform our dental services for the benefit of patients and the public.”

He has wide experience working within dentistry and wider healthcare on policy and healthcare commissioning at strategic and operational level.