Retired hospitals chief is honoured by the University of Leicester

A former leader of University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust (UHL) has been recognised for his services to healthcare by the University of Leicester.

After a 35-year career in the NHS, John MacDonald retired last year from his position as joint chair of the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust (UHL) and the University Hospitals of Northamptonshire NHS Group (UHN).

Today (Friday 16 January), he was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Science at a graduation ceremony held at De Montfort Hall.

John said: “I am honoured to receive an honorary degree from the University of Leicester and, as chair of UHL, to have been part of one of the leading health-academic partnerships in the UK.”

After gaining his degree in Economics at the University of Bristol, John travelled to Botswana where he spent two years as a planning officer with the Overseas Development Institute. From there he moved to the USA to study for an MSc in Agricultural Economics at Oregon State University.

After working on development programmes for international aid agencies including the World Bank and the UN and then a management consultancy, John’s first NHS role was at Brighton Hospitals NHS Trust, where he served as Director of Service Planning and Deputy Chief Executive.

Between 1993 and 2004, John held successive chief executive posts at three leading NHS Trusts: Derbyshire Royal Infirmary, Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals and the Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham. He then set up his own consultancy, specialising in strategy and policy development, organisational change and development, and board development.

In 2010, John was lured back to the NHS, drawing on his chief executive experience to chair a succession of NHS boards: first University Hospitals of North Staffordshire NHS Trust, then Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Trust, from 2017, and then UHL from 2021.

In 2023, John became chair of University Hospitals of Northamptonshire NHS Group (a collaboration between Kettering General Hospitals Foundation Trust and Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust) while continuing as chair of UHL. This move supported closer working between all three trusts to the benefit of patients in both areas.

President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Leicester, Professor Sir Nishan Canagarajah, said: “I would like to congratulate John on his honorary award, which is richly deserved.

“His vision, expertise and leadership ensured he was the number one choice to lead a number of NHS Trusts during a highly successful career.

“The University is proud of its association with our local NHS Trusts – these close partnerships were instrumental in our Clinical Medicine research activity being ranked second nationally in the Research Excellence Framework 2021*.”

* according to analysis of Grade-Point-Average, GPA by the Times Higher Education