Healthcare charity Nuffield Health has appointed KP Doyle as chief executive of the combined operations of Nuffield Proactive Health and Cannons Health & Fitness.

The two businesses are already under shared management and will be united under the Nuffield Health brand later this year.

Doyle, who takes over from Chris Jessop, was a founder director of Sona Group, which was bought by Nuffield Health in 2005. He was formerly chief financial officer of Nuffield Proactive Health and played a major role in the acquisition of Cannons at the end of 2007.

The company says Doyle has been instrumental in laying the foundations of the future combined business. He integrated health screening, primary care and physiotherapy services into Nuffield Proactive Health and put in place consistent clinical governance, quality assurance and operational processes

“Until now, nobody has been able to give the public a joined-up approach to proactively managing their health. We’re aiming to change that,” says Doyle.