One of the biggest management jobs in the health service - regional director of the NHS in London - has gone to civil servant John Bacon.

Mr Bacon, who will oversee a £6bn budget and over 90 NHS trusts and health authorities, is currently acting director of London region after spending two years as its director of finance and performance.

He succeeds his former boss at London region, Nigel Crisp, who was appointed NHS chief executive in autumn 2000.

In a separate move, Ruth Carnall has been appointed as regional director of the NHS south-east region in succession to Barbara Stocking, who became director of the NHS modernisation agency in November 2000.

Ms Stocking has subsequently announced she is to leave the NHS to become chief executive of the aid charity Oxfam.

Mr Bacon’s appointment, which was widely expected, is one of the most demanding in the NHS, covering as it does one of the most complex and politically sensitive areas of the UK.

His predecessor won plaudits for developing close relations with London mayor Ken Livingstone at a time when many expected the mayor to take a critical stance to the NHS.

Mr Bacon will have the task of implementing the government’s NHS reforms at a time when the capital’s health service faces pressure on several fronts, including a chronic shortages of nurses and other key staff.

He said: “I look forward to continuing the good work of the past two years in forging close links with our colleagues in local government and the voluntary sector in developing policies and strategies which will lead to the overall improvement of the health of Londoners in future.”

Before joining NHS London region in 1998, Mr Bacon worked as an NHS manager in Surrey and the south-west. He joined the NHS in 1983 from the UK Atomic Energy Commission.

Ms Carnall, the chief executive of West Kent health authority, has been acting director of south-east region for the past three months. She is a career NHS manager.