The University of Birmingham is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr Judith Smith as the new Director of the Health Services Management Centre (HSMC), succeeding Professor Jon Glasby.
The University of Birmingham is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr Judith Smith as the new Director of the Health Services Management Centre (HSMC), succeeding Professor Jon Glasby.
Dr Smith joins the University from leading independent charitable research foundation the Nuffield Trust, where she has spent six years as Director of Policy. Prior to joining the Trust, Dr Smith spent 14 years at HSMC, holding the positions of Senior Lecturer, Director of Research, and Academic Director of the NHS Management Training Scheme. From 2007 to 2009, Judith was based in New Zealand at the Victoria University of Wellington and the New Zealand Ministry of Health. Early in her career she was a senior manager in the NHS.
Professor Saul Becker, Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Head of the College of Social Sciences, said: ‘I am delighted to announce the appointment of Judith Smith as the new Director of the Health Services Management Centre. Judith joins us following a very successful six years as Director of Policy at the Nuffield Trust and, of course, is no stranger to the University, having spent 14 years at HSMC prior to taking up her role with the Trust.
‘I am looking forward to working with Judith, whose leadership skills and pedigree as a highly experienced health services researcher and policy analyst will be great assets to HSMC as it moves to strengthen its reputation as the leading centre of its kind in the UK.’
Judith Smith said: ‘I am absolutely delighted to have been appointed to lead the HSMC in its next stage of development. I am very much looking forward to working with colleagues in the department and wider university, undertaking cutting-edge research and development to inform and support the health system as it faces increasingly tough times.’
Nigel Edwards, Chief Executive of the Nuffield Trust, said: ‘We are delighted for Judith that she has been offered the opportunity to lead the Health Services Management Centre at the University of Birmingham. Judith has played a pivotal role in helping to establish the Nuffield Trust as one of the leading independent research organisations in health. This appointment is testament to the excellent research and policy analysis that Judith and her team have built up over the last six years, and which we will continue to take forward at this critical time for the health service.’
Dr Smith has a first degree in modern languages, an MBA from the Open University Business School and a PhD in health policy and management from the University of Birmingham.
She is a non-executive director of the Birmingham Children’s Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, an Honorary Senior Lecturer at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and Visiting Senior Research Fellow at Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand. Judith’s other roles include being a member of the board of the UK Health Services Research Network and chair of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society Commission on Models of Care.
Dr Smith was also an expert advisor on NHS organisation and commissioning, and policy assessor to the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust Public Inquiry. At the Nuffield Trust, she has led a team whose research focuses on primary care policy and management, the role and potential of new models of service delivery, the development of health commissioning, NHS management and culture, and the quest for better integrated care.
