Louise Schmidt is currently Assistant Director of Benefits and Assurance at NHS England, responsible for leading the benefits workstream of the Federated Data Platform programme.

She has worked at NHS England since 2021 in the evaluation, improvement and benefits areas, helping to ensure we identify and deliver on what works, and maximise the value of the services we deliver for patients, staff and the wider community.

‘Evidence’ has been at the heart of Louise’s career to date, with previous roles in the charity sector (Youth Endowment Fund – a UK What Works Centre), academia (Universities of Oxford and Southampton), health research funding (NIHR) and consultancy (delivering health services research).