Dean Royles

Dean Royles has been a highly regarded, leading figure in human resources (HR) within the NHS for more than two decades. Before joining NHS Employers as interim CEO in February 2026, he worked independently and provided strategic advice and leadership development to organisations and boards. He is immediate past president of the HPMA as well as the former chief executive of NHS Employers.

Other notable positions have included chief people officer at a large teaching hospital in the North of England, director of workforce and education at NHS Northwest and deputy director of workforce for the NHS in England at the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC). He started his career working in a local authority. 

Dean has an MSc in HR. He is former national chair of the board of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) and was awarded Companionship of the CIPD in 2015. He has an honorary doctorate from the University of Bradford for his contribution to health services management.

Dean has been a regular conference speaker, published works in a number of journals and provides expert opinion in the national media. His expertise and high energy approach to HR saw him voted UK’s Most Influential HR Practitioner three years running. His book on Human Resource Management, with Oxford University Press, was published in February 2018.