Rob Walker

Background and expertise

Rob works as Elective Care Director at Xyla, where he leads the development and delivery of elective care programmes. In this role, he provides strategic and operational oversight across services designed to reduce waiting times, improve patient access and support NHS partners in meeting key performance targets. His work spans elective recovery, pathway optimisation and service delivery models that enable high-quality, efficient care at scale.

Prior to this, Rob was Divisional Manager at Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust, where he led the Surgical Division comprising four care groups, 20 specialties and over 1,100 staff. He was responsible for financial and operational planning, as well as overseeing a team of managers to ensure effective service delivery across a complex acute setting.

Rob also held the role of Director of Operations at Healthshare (now Cora), where he led operational teams across multiple services, including NHS and independent provision. Here, he was responsible for service performance, workforce management and ensuring the effective delivery of contracts across a diverse healthcare portfolio.

He has also held senior roles at the independent healthcare provider Omnes, where he led dermatology services across multiple CCGs and secondary care providers, supporting over 60,000 patients annually. In addition, at the London Ambulance Service he led operational coordination, contributed to the redesign of safeguarding services and directed logistics for major incidents.

Hear from Rob

“What really drives me is making a genuine difference to how people access care. With the pressure the system is under, it’s important we work closely together to find practical ways to reduce waiting times and improve experiences for patients and clinicians. For me, it’s about turning ideas into action and building services that actually work, not just in theory, but day to day.”