NHS England has appointed three new non-executive directors to its board, who will take up their positions on 27th January.
Baroness Mary Watkins is an international expert in nursing and healthcare delivery. Having qualified as a general nurse in 1976 and a mental health nurse in 1979, she has worked in community, in-patient mental health and acute settings, providing non-emergency and emergency healthcare. She is Visiting Professor in the Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery and Palliative Care, King’s College London; President of the Florence Nightingale Foundation; and a former Deputy Vice-Chancellor at Plymouth University.
Professor Sir Simon Wessely has worked as a clinical psychiatrist, specialising in general hospital psychiatry, for the past 35 years and is Regius Professor of Psychiatry at King’s College London.
Professor Sir Mark Walport is Honorary Distinguished Professor of Medicine at Imperial College London, Chair of Imperial College Academic Health Sciences Centre Partnership Board, and Chair of Imperial College Health Partners. He has previously worked as Chief Executive of UK Research and Innovation, Government Chief Scientific Adviser and Head of the Government Office for Science, and Director of the Wellcome Trust.
NHS England Chair Richard Meddings said: “I’m delighted to announce the appointment of three leading clinicians to our Board.
“They bring with them a wealth of experience and talent from across the medical, educational, research and scientific fields and I am very much looking forward to working alongside them to guide the NHS in this historic 75th year and beyond.
“Our new colleagues will play a pivotal role alongside my other non-executive colleagues as we make progress in delivering the key ambitions outlined in the NHS Long Term Plan and continue to transform the NHS for the future.”
