Richard Jenkins Appointed Interim Chief Executive of Doncaster and Bassetlaw Hospitals

Dr Richard Jenkins took up the post of interim chief executive of Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in August 2026, while continuing as joint chief executive of the neighbouring Barnsley and Rotherham trusts, the three organisations announced. The arrangement, intended to run for up to 12 months, deepens a shared leadership model already used across South Yorkshire’s hospital trusts.

Jenkins, a former consultant physician specialising in diabetes and endocrinology, has led Barnsley Hospital NHS Foundation Trust since 2017 and has overseen its six-year shared leadership arrangement with the Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust. Zara Jones, who had been acting chief executive at Doncaster and Bassetlaw during the transition, returns to her substantive post as deputy chief executive before leaving in October to become chief executive of East Cheshire NHS Trust.

A regional trend toward shared leadership

NHS trusts across England have increasingly turned to shared chief executives and group leadership models in recent years, as the health service tries to stretch scarce senior leadership talent across multiple organisations facing similar financial and operational pressures. The Doncaster, Barnsley and Rotherham arrangement extends that approach to a third acute trust in the same region.

Filling a gap without a lengthy vacancy

By appointing an existing, sitting chief executive on an interim basis rather than leaving the post vacant during a full recruitment process, the trusts avoid a prolonged leadership gap at a hospital group that serves a large population across South Yorkshire and North Nottinghamshire. A permanent recruitment process for Doncaster and Bassetlaw’s own chief executive is expected to follow.

Why It Matters

Stable leadership at acute hospital trusts affects everything from waiting times to staff retention. Shared chief executive models can offer continuity and spread expertise, but they also concentrate accountability across a wider footprint, a trade-off NHS trusts are increasingly willing to make as they manage persistent financial and workforce strain.