NHS England has added a wealth of wide-ranging experience to its board, welcoming new members who hold expertise in a range of backgrounds, including medicine, academia and government.

The new clinical appointments include Professor Dame Helen Stokes-Lampard, a GP, who served as chair of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges and Professor Sir Robert Lechler, Emeritus Professor at King’s College London.

Dame Helen has previously served as the Chair of the Royal College of General Practitioners and currently works as Professor of GP Education at the University of Birmingham as well as continuing work as a GP in Lichfield, Staffordshire.

Sir Robert brings a wealth of NHS and medicine experience – he became Vice Principal of King’s College London in 2005 and was also Deputy Chair of Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust between 2004 and 2009. He was President of the Academy of Medical Science from 2015 to 2020 and is a highly respected leader in the Life Sciences ecosystem.

Jane Ellison, who served during her Parliamentary career as Minister for Public Health, also joins the NHS England board alongside Compare the Market Chief Executive Mark Bailie.

Since leaving parliament in 2017, Jane has worked for the World Health Organization in Geneva, serving most recently as the Executive Director of External Relations and Governance.

Mark Bailie has led Compare the Market since 2020 in a career of senior leadership in banking and financial services including running digital retail operations at scale. He also worked alongside the NHS on setting up NHS Test and Trace during the pandemic.

NHS England will also shortly announce the appointment of two new associate non-executive directors with expertise in the areas of workforce and large systems technology. These roles will further strengthen the skillset of the Board following the mergers of Health Education England and NHS Digital.

Richard Meddings, Chair of NHS England, said: “I’m delighted that we are adding such a strong level and range of expertise to the NHS England board. Input from the new non-executive directors will be vital as we continue recovery of services following the pandemic, manage record demand for care, implement the ambitious NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, and as we continue to transform healthcare for patients for the future. I know each of the new directors will bring invaluable insight and experience to the NHS as well as helping us to further improve the experiences of patients – I look forward to working closely with them all.”

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