The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre NHS Foundation Trust has appointed Tracey Cole-Wetherill to the new role of Chief Strategy, Partnerships and Transformation Officer following a competitive national recruitment process.
Tracey (pictured) is currently Diagnostics Programme Director at Cheshire and Merseyside Provider Collaborative, where she has been pivotal in delivering major improvements on waiting times, productivity, innovation and efficiency. Cheshire and Merseyside is now one of the best-performing areas nationally on diagnostic waiting times. Prior to that, she was Executive Director of Strategy and Partnerships at NHS Cheshire CCG.
Tracey began her career as a NHS graduate management trainee and spent eight years in operational and senior leadership roles within hospitals across Cheshire and Merseyside, overseeing a range of different clinical services. After a few years in the third sector, where she worked in service development at the MS Society, she returned to the NHS and has spent the last 14 years working in commissioning and in strategic leadership roles.
In her new role as Chief Strategy, Partnerships and Transformation Officer, Tracey will lead delivery of the Trust’s exciting and ambitious plans for the next five years, as set out in the long-term strategy it published in July 2026. That includes an application to achieve advanced foundation trust status, a marker of excellence for NHS providers.
She will also lead on local delivery of the National Cancer Plan and the 10 Year Health Plan, and The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre’s role as the system lead for cancer services across Cheshire and Merseyside, the Isle of Man and surrounding areas.
Alongside this, she plans to further strengthen the Trust’s partnerships locally, regionally, nationally and globally; this includes its collaborations with other health and care providers, academic organisations, industry and the third sector among others.
Tracey will take up her new role on 26 October 2026, but will continue providing strategic leadership for some of the Diagnostic Programme’s work. Julie Massey has been appointed Acting Diagnostics Programme Director from 26 October.
Chief Executive Joan Spencer said: “Tracey is an outstanding leader with a vast wealth of experience and achievements across the full spectrum of healthcare. She has an excellent ability to understand clinical challenges, bring people together and achieve transformational change with real benefits for patients. Her record as Diagnostics Programme Director speaks for itself and I am very much looking forward to working with her in her new role.”
Speaking of her appointment, Tracey Cole-Wetherill said: “I feel incredibly privileged to be taking on this role. The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre is an exceptional organisation, with an unwavering commitment to excellent patient care. I’m proud to have the opportunity to contribute to its future, working alongside colleagues and partners to build on the fantastic work already underway and explore how we can go even further for the patients we serve.”
