Ian Carruthers

Sir Ian Carruthers OBE is a senior British civil servant. He has held a variety of appointments in the National Health Service including being its Acting Director of Commissioning and joint Chief Executive of Dorset and Somerset Strategic Health Authority and Hampshire and Isle of Wight Strategic Health Authority. For 6 months during 2006 he was acting Chief Executive of the NHS.

Carruthers held senior hospital posts in Blackpool, Southend, Portsmouth and Plymouth after joining the NHS in 1969. He was later Chief Executive of Dorset Health Authority, Chief Executive of the Dorset Health Commission, District General Manager at West Dorset Health Authority (having held that post since October 1987) and Acting District General Manager for East Dorset Health Authority.

From 1 December 2004 to 31 July 2005, Carruthers was seconded to the Department of Health, on a part-time basis, as Transitional Director of the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement and during the year to 1 April 1995, he was seconded to the South and West Regional Health Authority as Regional General Manager/Regional Director of the NHS Executive.

Other roles include serving on the Department of Health Financial Strategy Steering Group and on the Strategic Health Authorities Chief Executives Reference Group on Delivering Race Equality in Mental Health. In the past Carruthers was a member of the NHS Modernisation Board, the National Steering and Advisory Group for ?Shifting the Balance of Power within the NHS? and he also served as a member on the Modernisation Action Team on Patient Access which contributed to the NHS Plan. On 7 March 2006 he took over as acting NHS chief executive, following the departure of Sir Nigel Crisp. He held this position until September that year, being succeeded by David Nicholson.

He received his Knighthood in the 2003 New Year's Honours List.

Married with a son and daughter Carruthers is a keen sportsman who won county caps for Cumbria in rugby union, cricket and soccer.