The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Wes Streeting has confirmed Dr Penny Dash will be the new Chair of NHS England, describing her as: “a radical reformer, with the skills and experience we need to help fix our broken NHS and make it fit for the future.”
Dr Dash is currently the Chair of the NHS North West London Integrated Care Board and is leading a major review into the regulation of health and social care quality in England. Her interim report, published last year, shone a light on the scale of the failure at the Care Quality Commission, and sparked the appointment of new leadership to turn around the health and care regulator.
A former NHS doctor, senior partner at McKinsey and Company working on healthcare globally, and Head of Strategy at the Department of Health and Social Care, Dr Dash has a wealth of experience in the public, private and government sectors.
As chair of NHS England, she will draw on her vast knowledge in these fields to focus on rebuilding the NHS as part of the government’s 10-Year Health Plan.
She was selected following an open public appointment process to appoint a successor to Richard Meddings, who is due to step down next month. This appointment is a four-year term and begins on April 1, 2025.
