A career civil servant who became a GP inspector is to oversee development of primary care networks, it has been announced.

Ruth Rankine, the current deputy chief inspector of general practice at the Care Quality Commission, has been appointed as Primary Care Network development director at the NHS Confederation.

The Confederation is working with national partners to set up an independent platform for Primary Care Network (PCN) leaders to support them in their national policy development plans and to provide them with opportunities to exchange views and experiences.

Niall Dickson, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said: “We are delighted to welcome Ruth to the team. She brings a wealth of knowledge and experience of primary care and of operating at a national level.

“The success of the NHS Long Term Plan for England depends to a great degree on embracing population health, bringing local services together, and ending the isolation and underfunding of primary care.

“At the Confederation, we see PCNs as a vital part of this, and with Ruth’s support, we aim to make sure they have a voice on the national stage.”

Ms Rankine, a career civil servant who spent ten years in the Department of Health, added: “I’m looking forward to joining the NHS Confederation at such an exciting time. PCNs have a key role to play in the NHS landscape, working across primary care and improving the health of their populations. The work of the Confederation, alongside other partner organisations, will ensure that PCNs have sufficient influence nationally, as well as in their local systems.”

While at the CQC, she led on the regulation of general practice, set up the first regulatory programme for online providers and established an inspection programme for military health services.