For the first time, NHS England has welcomed a clinically active GP to their board.
With the latest round of recruitment, NHS England has added a wealth of wide-ranging experience to its board, including those with backgrounds in medicine, academia and government.
These recent appointments include Professor Dame Helen Stokes-Lampard DBE, a Professor of GP Education here at the University of Birmingham, who served as chair of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges on secondment between 2020 and 2023.
I look forward to taking up my position as a non-executive member of the NHS board. It's an important opportunity to help shape the direction of the NHS, at such a challenging time, especially as it is the first time that a practicing GP has had a seat at the table,
Additionally Dame Helen is a GP Principal in Lichfield, she sits on the Expert Panel which advises the national AI Frontier Taskforce and Chairs the Independent clinical oversight group for the GRAIL/Galleri study. She is the founding Chair of the National Academy for Social Prescribing (NASP), the founding Chair of the Dames Commander Society (DCS) and a Trustee of Macmillan Cancer. She was Chair of the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) 2016-2019 and has held many other national medical leadership positions. Dame Helen was awarded a DBE for services to General Practice in the New Years Honours list January 2022.
The new clinical appointments also include Professor Sir Robert Lechler, Emeritus Professor at King’s College London, Jane Ellison, previously the Minister for Public Health and Mark Bailie CEO of Compare the Market who worked alongside the NHS on setting up NHS Test and Trace during the pandemic.
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.
Professor of GP Education
Staff profile for Professor Dame Helen Jayne Stokes-Lampard, Professor of GP Education, Birmingham Medical School, Institute of Clinical Sciences, University of Birmingham
