Healthcare
Sir Stephen Bubb, JP (right). Chief executive the Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations. With brother Nick Bubb, chairman of the Debrett's 500 Retailers sector.
Panel – The NHS Confederation.
We should celebrate rising life expectancy and survival rates from disease, illness and accidents.
The country is rightly proud of the equity of our public health system, with access to essential services for everyone, complemented by excellent private provision. But the challenges are immense - funding pressure and scandals that have shaken our faith in the goodness of people. The necessity to drive efficiency, innovation and quality is unprecedented. Inevitably, politics is never far away.
Reform is essential, to ensure quality and compassion are never compromised, for quicker access to more integrated health and social care and to change the balance between hospital and community based care provision, with greater empowerment of patients to manage their own care.
Accordingly, the list represents a cross section of world class clinicians, inspirational leaders and campaigners; they come from the public, charity and private sectors. They are agents for change and share a passion for healthcare excellence.
The invidious task of selecting just 20 people fell to the NHS Confederation, overseen by Matt Tee, chief operating officer, and Mike Parish, trustee and chief executive of Care UK.
The NHS Confederation is the membership body for all organisations that commission and provide NHS services. Independent of Government and the Department of Health, the Confederation is the only body to bring together and speak on behalf of the whole of the NHS.
Prof the Lord Darzi of Denham, KBE, PC. Paul Hamlyn chair of surgery Imperial College London.
Ara Darzi is renowned as one of the world’s leading surgeons. Born in Iraq to parents who had fled the Armenian genocide, Darzi moved to Ireland at the age of 17 to study medicine at the Royal College of Surgeons. After a number of years in the field, he now holds the position of Paul Hamlyn chair of surgery at Imperial College London. He is a pioneer of robotic surgery and as a former health minister, director of the Institute of Global Health Innovation and leader of the London Health Commission for London Mayor Boris Johnson, Darzi is a key player in worldwide healthcare reform.
Julie Bailey, CBE. Campaigner and founder of Cure the NHS.
Driven by the death of her mother, Bella, Julie Bailey has fearlessly campaigned to expose the failings of the local Mid Staffordshire NHS Trust. From her café in Staffordshire, Bailey founded the pressure group Cure the NHS. She has challenged dominant authorities in an attempt to save lives and prevent errors being made in the future. When asked about her campaign, Bailey reflects: “I hope that I have proved that people can make changes if they are determined and persevere even when powerful people try to silence them. It’s the moral compass that wins in the end.” Despite being subjected to slashed tyres, poison pen letters and death threats in her local community, Bailey has continued to campaign for greater accountability in the NHS.
Sir Robert Naylor. Chief executive University College London Hospitals.
Since 2000, Sir Robert Naylor has held the position of chief executive of the University College London Hospitals (UCLH). Throughout his tenure, Naylor has developed UCLH to become the most influential hospital in England and under his guidance the world-class trust has achieved a number of accolades for its high quality care. According to Naylor, his biggest challenge has been learning that “you don’t improve in big strides, you make improvements with small footsteps.” Sir Robert has also played an integral role in various strategy groups associated with health care reform. In 2008, he was knighted for his services to healthcare.
Prof Clare Gerada, MBE. Partner The Hurley Group.
As a child, Dr Clare Gerada’s GP father would take her on his house calls. Inspired by this early insight, Gerada became a GP on a council estate in south London in 1991. In 1993, Gerada established a Consultancy Liaison Addiction Service designed to support those GPs caring for drug users. She was later awarded an MBE for service to medicine and drug misusers. Gerada has held a number of key roles in the field, including director of primary care for the National Clinical Governance Team and senior medical advisor to the Department of Health. As chair of the Royal College of GPs, Gerada represented over 40,000 doctors. She was the first woman elected to the post in fifty years.
Dr Neil Bacon. Founder Iwantgreatcare.org.
Medical entrepreneur, academic and former nephrologist Dr Neil Bacon is a prominent contributor to the healthcare service. In 1988, Bacon revolutionised the medical community when he founded one of the world’s largest doctor’s networks, Doctors.net.uk, which reaches more than 150,000 doctors in the UK. More recently, Bacon founded Iwantgreatcare.org; cited as a Tripadvisor for the NHS, the UK’s only independent and open review service allows patients to evaluate their doctors. With his vast experience, Bacon has advised some of the world’s largest companies and has been a keen contributor to the formation of recent government policy.
Prof Sir Bruce Keogh, KBE. Cardiac surgeon and medical director NHS England.
Sir Bruce Keogh has a distinguished career as a renowned cardiac surgeon. He was president of the Society for Cardiothoracic Surgery in Great Britain and Ireland, secretary general of the European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery, international director of the US Society of Thoracic Surgeons and president of the Cardiothoracic Section of the Royal Society of Medicine. As the medical director of NHS England, Sir Bruce recently completed high profile reviews on hospital mortality rates and the future of A&E having been invited to the role by the Prime Minister David Cameron.
Ciarán Devane. Chief executive Macmillan Cancer Support.
Ciarán Devane became the chief executive of Macmillan Cancer Support in 2007. When he was in what he recognised as his “immortal careers mode” in his thirties, his wife tragically died of cancer. For Devane, “in an unfortunate way, we were very fortunate” as they had family and a hospice nearby. This led him to think about those who aren’t as fortunate and pushed him to Macmillan. He co-chairs the National Cancer Survivorship Initiative and is a leading light in the Richmond Group, the body that brings together ten major health charities. He is also on the Advisory Council of the Cicely Saunders Institute, the first purpose-built institute for research into palliative care.
Robert Francis, QC. Chairman Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust Public Inquiry.
Robert Francis, QC, is a barrister specialising in NHS and professional negligence. As the chairman of the public inquiry into the failings at the Mid Staffordshire NHS Trust, his recommendations continue to resonate across the NHS and Parliament. According to one participant in the Mid Staffordshire inquiry, “Robert Francis is seen by some people as the Messiah: that he will give them the golden answer as to why the scandal was not stopped sooner, and all those responsible, named.”
Prof Sir John Gurdon. Biologist.
At school, 15-year-old Sir John Gurdon ranked last at biology out of the 250 boys in his year group. His school report wrote off any scientific ambitions he exhibited with one teacher’s report stating: “I believe he has ideas about becoming a scientist; on his present showing this is quite ridiculous.” Having received such a disheartening appraisal, Sir John switched his attention to Classics and was offered a place to study the subject at Oxford. Thanks to maladministration in the Admissions Department, Sir John ended up reading zoology. It was whilst completing his postgraduate course at Oxford that Sir John successfully cloned a frog. In January 2012, Sir John was awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine as a result of his groundbreaking stem cell research.
The Rt Hon Jeremy Hunt, MP. Secretary of state for health.
As secretary of state for health, Jeremy Hunt has overall responsibility for the work of the Department of Health, which provides strategic leadership for the NHS, social care and public health in England. He is dedicated to instigating a profound transformation of the NHS in an attempt to restore trust in the service. In response to the public inquiry into the Stafford Hospital scandal, Hunt has unveiled a series of measures designed to provide a safe and sustainable healthcare system in the UK.
Roy Lilley. Commentator and blogger, former chair NHS Trust.
Roy Lilley built up his first enterprise from scratch, turning it into a multi-million pound turnover. Lilley’s position as a former chair of the NHS Trust and a commentator and analyst of healthcare policy has contributed to his unparalleled reach over social media in the NHS. He has been voted the top UK speaker on NHS topics twice and is recognised as an NHS pundit. Lilley is also a publisher of the e-newsletter for NHS managers.
Dame Julie Mellor, DBE. Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman.
A graduate of Brasenose College Oxford, where she studied experimental psychology, Dame Julie Mellor has been chair of the Equal Opportunities Commission and a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers. Appointed Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman in 2012, she is now transforming the way that the most serious complaints about the NHS are handled. Dame Julie leads an organisation that has over 250 caseworkers and is tasked with investigating complaints that individuals have been treated unfairly or have received poor service from NHS organisations or the Government. She received a DBE in 2006.
The Baroness Greenfield, CBE. Neuroscientist.
Baroness Greenfield is a neuroscientist, broadcaster, writer and member of the House of Lords. The first member of her family to go to university, today Baroness Greenfield is a senior research fellow at Lincoln’s College, Oxford and is the leading authority on Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases. In 1994, Baroness Greenfield was invited to be the first woman to give the Royal Institution Christmas Lecture and in 1998 she was appointed as director of the Institution. Baroness Greenfield has founded three biotechnical research companies, which focus on developing novel approaches to the treatment of neuronal disease.
Prof Sir Michael Richards, CBE. Oncologist and chief inspector of hospitals England.
Sir Mike Richards, a former breast cancer oncologist, is credited with significantly improving the survival rates from cancer in England. From 1999 to 2012 Richards was the Government’s national cancer tsar, having been appointed as the first national cancer director at the Department of Health. Richards was recently appointed as Chief Inspector of Hospitals in England. In this role, he is responsible for assessing the quality of care on offer to individuals. The position was created at the request of Prime Minister David Cameron in response to the proposals suggested by the inquiry into the failings at the Mid Staffordshire NHS Trust.
Stephen Collier. Group chief executive BMI Healthcare.
Prior to joining BMI Healthcare, the UK’s largest provider of independent healthcare, Stephen Collier was a practising barrister with degrees from the London School of Economics and University College London. Having joined the company in 1982, Collier held a number of positions before becoming director of strategy and then group chief executive in 2011, governing the largest hospital group in the UK. Stephen has been prominent in working collaboratively with the Department of Health to extend the contribution of private healthcare organisations to the NHS. With his active leadership, BMI has dramatically increased its volume of surgical procedures for the NHS and the independent sector collectively now carries out around one fifth of all hip and knee replacement procedures in the NHS. Stephen has also worked extensively with the Department of Health on framing care standards.
Sir Stephen Bubb, JP. Chief executive the Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations.
Sir Stephen Bubb is the chief executive of the Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations, the body that represents UK charity leaders. Members of the body include some of the largest non-NHS providers of healthcare services. Bubb was involved with charities from an early age; whilst at school he was the secretary of the Medway Towns Amnesty International group. Bubb is actively involved in promoting the role that the voluntary sector can play in aiding the Department of Health. Bubb comments that “speaking truth to power is actually very difficult” and in 2011, Sir Stephen was seconded to the Department of Health as part of the team leading Andrew Lansley’s NHS listening advice. In that year, Bubb also received a knighthood for his services to the voluntary sector.
Prof David Haslam, CBE. Chairman NICE.
Prof David Haslam’s CV boasts a broad and impressive history in medicine, having spent 35 years as a GP and held the position of president of both the British Medical Association and the Royal College of General Practitioners. His father, a GP, died when Haslam was 14 but he remembers how incredibly well-respected and liked he was. This paved the way for Haslam’s own career. In 2013, he was appointed chairman of the National Institute for Health Care and Excellence, the body providing national advice and guidance on how to improve health and social care. The institute also exerts its influence, recommending which drugs and treatments are used in the NHS. Professor Haslam was awarded a CBE in 2004 for services to medicine and healthcare.
Dr Chaand Nagpaul. Chair of the British Medical Association's GP Committee.
Dr Chaand Nagpaul was inspired to become a GP when he attended a practice in inner city London while a medical student. Of the experience, he says “I was struck with awe at the personalised, compassionate and continuity of care provided by my GP trainer to patients and families, while also skilfully treating the breadth and complexity of medical problems that patients presented with”. When he qualified, becoming a GP was the most competitive career option for those entering the medical profession. Out of 180 applicants, Nagpaul was one of only two to be offered a place. He has now been a GP for the past 23 years, and is the current chair of the British Medical Association’s GP Committee, which negotiates GP contracts. It is the only body to represent all NHS GP’s in the UK.
Norman Lamb, MP. Minister of state for care and support Department of Health.
Normal Lamb was educated at Wymondham College, then a co-educational grammar school, and the University of Leicester. After initially working as a solicitor, he became the Liberal Democrat MP for North Norfolk in 2001 and was appointed minister of state for care and support in September 2012. In this role, Lamb is responsible for driving forward the integration of health and social care. He has worked to improve care and support services and to raise the profile of mental health. Lamb recently acknowledged the current failings of the NHS in its provision to those with mental health issues and pledged to improve the situation with the time available to him as care minister.
Timothy Kelsey. National director for patients and information NHS England.
Tim Kelsey is the national director for patients and information at NHS England, having previously been executive director of transparency and open data at the Cabinet Office. In 2000 Kelsey founded Dr Foster, a controversial group that pioneered the publication of patient outcomes. In 2007 he launched NHS Choices, the national online health information service, which now reports around 20 million individual users a month. Kelsey is widely regarded as a leader on the use of digital technologies in the NHS and fights for transparency in the quality of care in our in public services.
