Russell Reynolds Associates Recruits CEO for the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence
March 4, 2022 – Russell Reynolds Associates recently placed Samantha Roberts as the new chief executive officer of England’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). She assumed the post in February from recently retired Gillian Leng. “I would like to welcome Dr. Samantha Roberts as the new CEO of NICE,” said Lord Kamall, minister for innovation. “Dr. Roberts brings a wealth of experience across both the NHS and the private sector. I would also like to thank Gill Leng for her excellent and dedicated leadership of NICE over the last two decades. We hope that under Dr. Roberts’ leadership, NICE will continue to play its vital part in driving improved patient outcomes across the health and care system and ensuring that the U.K. is seen as a global center of excellence for life sciences.”
“I am delighted to welcome Samantha Roberts to NICE,” said Sharmila Nebhrajani, chairman of NICE. “She brings a wealth of experience and knowledge of the life sciences sector and the NHS that I know will help to drive our future vision.”
The organization was looking for a leader to drive its transformation and develop its strategic plan over the next five years, and beyond. Dr. Roberts fit that bill. She has more than 20 years’ experience of healthcare having worked in service delivery, consultancy and as a clinician. She joined NHS England in 2018, as director of innovation, research, and life sciences. Dr. Roberts most recently served as managing director for health and care at Legal and General.
Supported by a strong executive team and leading some 680 staff in offices in Manchester and London, Dr. Roberts will manage a budget of £67 million and is accountable to the chairman of the board. She will lead on the strategic direction to improve outcomes and reduce inequalities by supporting the health and care sector and life sciences industry, championing new innovations that can deliver better health for patients and the public. Dr. Roberts will also refine and redesign the organizational structure to enable NICE to deliver on its ambitious strategy.
“We are living through a golden age of medical innovation,” said Dr. Roberts. “So, it is an enormous privilege to be asked to lead an organization that has both such a proud history and a such a significant future role to play in bringing the best of this innovation into practice. I may be a newcomer to NICE, but I have been a user of NICE products for the last 20 years, so it is wonderful for me to be taking a role at the heart of something that I have valued so much over the years.”
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The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has a reputation as a leader in the provision of robust, independent, and trusted advice to the health and care system and is widely recognized as such around the world. The organization was established more than 20 years ago as an independent non-departmental government body with a core purpose “to improve health and well-being by putting science and evidence at the heart of health and care decision-making.”
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Russell Reynolds Associates is a global leadership advisory and search firm. Its 425-plus consultants in 46 offices work with public, private and non-profit organizations across all industries and regions.
The firm’s public sector, trade and associations practice group serves a wide variety of public sector and not-for-profit organizations, related public bodies, regulators, and government-owned companies. It also fills the executive leadership needs of global charities, healthcare providers, and local government and trade associations.
The firm also conducts in-depth organizational culture assessment and measures the cultural fit of key leadership and candidates in the following areas: arts and culture, global development, higher education, non-profit health and human services, public sector, social justice and advocacy, as well as trade and professional associations.
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Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor; and Stephen Sawicki, Managing Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
