Henrik Hanssen is a fictional character from the BBC medical drama Holby City, played by actor Guy Henry. He made his first appearance in the thirteenth series episode "Shifts", broadcast on 19 October 2010. Hanssen is initially a consultant general surgeon and the joint Director of Surgery of Holby City Hospital. He later becomes the sole Director of Surgery and the chief executive officer of the hospital trust. Henry has also appeared in Holby City sister show, Casualty, as Hanssen on multiple occasions. On 25 August 2013, Henry announced he had left Holby City after three years in the role and his on-screen departure aired on 8 October 2013. A year later, it was announced that Henry had chosen to return to his role and Hanssen's return scenes aired on 28 April 2015. Following his return, he has made several guest appearances in Casualty. Henry made a temporary departure in October 2016 and after a guest appearance on 3 January 2017, he returned on 7 February 2017. He made another temporary departure on 13 August 2019, and returned on 18 February 2020, staying until the show's conclusion in 2022. Storylines Holby City Hanssen is introduced as the new joint Director of Surgery at Holby Hospital, working alongside Connie Beauchamp (Amanda Mealing). In a meeting with the hospital board, he criticises Connie's plan to purchase a new MRI scanner for the cardiothoracic ward as being self-serving and naïve. He later informs the staff that budget cuts and redundancies will have to be made for the good of the hospital in a fraught economic climate. Hanssen considers making general surgeon Ric Griffin (Hugh Quarshie) redundant, as he is unable to perform clinical duties while undergoing chemotherapy. Connie defends Ric's position, and Hanssen allows her to make the final decision on redundancies, resulting in the dismissal of six nurses. Hanssen later grants Ric leave of absence to concentrate on his health. Before departing, Ric requests that Hanssen direct his budget cuts away from the general surgery department. After Connie's resignation from Holby City at the start of 2011, Hanssen becomes the sole Director of Surgery. He also assumes the position of CEO following the resignation of Mark Williams in January 2011, merging this role with his Director of Surgery duties. In March 2011, after attempting to move all Upper-GI surgical cases from Keller ward to St James' Hospital, undermining Ric in the process