Baroness Sally Morgan, Chair of Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (CUH), has today announced that Roland Sinker will step down from his role as Chief Executive on 31 December 2025 to join the University of Cambridge, where he will lead a major review of inclusive innovation and growth. Read more here (opens in a new tab).
This aligns with an 18-month succession plan at CUH corresponding with Roland's tenth year at the organisation.
Alongside his new role, Roland will continue to support work with CUH spearheading philanthropic partnerships and major gifts to support the Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital and the Cambridge Children’s Hospital. He will also help drive strategic partnerships and investment to support the next phase of growth at the Cambridge Biomedical Campus—strengthening its position as Europe’s leading centre for life sciences, research and innovation.
As Chief Executive of Cambridge University Hospitals since November 2015, Roland has led the organisation from a Care Quality Commission (CQC) rating of Inadequate and a £90 million financial deficit to a CQC rating of Good and financial strength. He guided the organisation through covid and has driven forward the Cancer Research and Children’s Hospitals – both designed to be world-leading centres of excellence with building work due to start in 2027. Roland has led a number of strategic initiatives including local care integration, digital transformation and has worked closely with the University and partners in the life sciences industry for the past ten years.
In announcing Roland’s new role, Sally paid tribute to his ten-year tenure at CUH:
I would like to extend my deepest thanks to Roland for his outstanding service, leadership and significant contribution to the Trust and the wider ecosystem. This is a pivotal moment of opportunity for Cambridge as a world leading cluster and I wish Roland every success in his new role. For CUH, this is now the right time to enable the organisation’s evolution to the next phase. We have an exciting and crucial agenda, and we are building on strong foundations.
Baroness Sally Morgan, Chair of Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Roland Sinker CBE said:
It has been a true privilege to work with patients, staff and partners to deliver an enormous amount for our health and care system, and beyond. Every day I see the commitment from staff right across the organisation to do their best for patients. There is so much at CUH to be proud of that we have delivered together. Ten years on from joining CUH, I'm now excited to take on this new challenge at the University of Cambridge, where I can leverage the strong partnerships we have in Cambridge to accelerate progress and help define a fully inclusive innovation and growth strategy to benefit the region and the entire UK.
Roland Sinker CBE
Sally confirmed that Nicola Ayton, currently Deputy Chief Executive at CUH, will step into the Chief Executive (Acting) role from the start of January. There will be a recruitment process leading to a substantive CEO appointment.