UCL heart expert new NHS Medical Director

Links:

ucl.ac.uk/medicine/cardiovascular-biology/" target="_self">UCL Centre for Cardiovascular Biology & Medicine

Professor Sir Bruce Keogh

Professor Sir Bruce Keogh (UCL Centre for Cardiovascular Biology & Medicine) has been officially named as the new NHS Medical Director.

Sir Bruce is an eminent cardiac surgeon and president of the Society for Cardiothoracic Surgery. He became UCL Professor of Cardiac Surgery in 2004, when he also joined the University College Heart Hospital.

He will now take on the role of championing clinical engagement throughout NHS and leading the work of the National Clinical Directors, or 'Tsars', as part of the NHS Leadership Team. He will also act as a Deputy Chief Medical Officer.

Sir Bruce said: I'm looking forward to my new role - it's an exciting opportunity to harness the expertise, experience and talents of clinicians working on the front line to guide and implement the continuing transformation the NHS for the benefit of our patients. Working closely with Sir Liam Donaldson and the department's National Clinical Directors on matters such as clinical innovation, quality and safety, the Medical Director will provide a strengthened clinical voice in the overall management of the NHS."

Sir Bruce added that he would be retaining a close affiliation with UCH through the Institute for Clinical Outcomes Research, which he established. The unit analyses national data for heart disease, including heart attacks, heart surgery and angioplasty.

Sir Bruce has been a commissioner for the Healthcare Commission and played a leading role in its work in publishing mortality and survival rates for individual heart surgeons and hospital heart surgery units throughout the country.

Announcing the appointment, NHS chief executive David Nicholson said: "The NHS is just over halfway through a major programme of investment and reform, but we can only transform services if our staff understand and are engaged in what we are trying to do. I am delighted that Bruce Keogh has accepted the post of NHS Medical Director. This will put the department's management of the NHS on a stronger clinical footing and support the NHS locally to provide better clinical leadership - helping to support clinicians to drive change at a local level in order to drive improvements for the benefit of patients.'

Chief Medical Officer, Sir Liam Donaldson added: "I am very pleased to welcome Bruce to the Department of Health. I know him well and admire him greatly. Bruce will be an integral part of the Department's world class clinical leadership team and I look forward to working with him on key priorities such as patient safety and the quality of health services."

To find out more, use the links at the top of this article.

Image: Sir Bruce