The Nuffield Trust’s chief executive is to join the Health Foundation in the same role later this year.

Dr Jennifer Dixon CBE (pictured), who was awarded a CBE for services to public health earlier this year, will join the Health Foundation in October.

Nuffield Trust is going to appoint Andy McKeon, currently a trustee, as interim chief executive while it recruits a replacement. McKeon will step down as a trustee before taking up the role in the autumn.

Professor Dame Carol Black DBE, chair of the Nuffield Trust said: “We are delighted for Jennifer that she has been offered the opportunity to lead the Health Foundation and we look forward to our organisations continuing to work together in order to improve care quality at this critical time for the health service.”

It is a move to a bigger organisation for Dixon. Nuffield’s latest accounts showed an income of almost £3m with 27 members of staff, compared to the Health Foundation which reported income in excess of £17m and 61 employees.

Dixon joined Nuffield in 2008 from the King’s Fund where she was director of policy, and Black added that: “Under Jennifer’s leadership the Nuffield Trust has established itself as a leading independent source of evidence-based research and policy analysis.”

At the Health Foundation, Dixon succeeds Stephen Thornton who is retiring after leading the foundation for 12 years. He will continue to be involved in the health sector through roles at the Nursing and Midwifery Council and Eastern Academic Health Science Network among other non-executive roles. 

Dixon said it was a “huge honour” to join the foundation, and added: “The Foundation has come a long way since its inception, in particular under Stephen Thornton’s leadership it has moved to focus squarely on the quality of care in the UK. This focus will be critical in the next few years as our health and social care system faces severe challenges.”