Simon Stevens
British health manager and civil servant / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Simon Laurence Stevens, Baron Stevens of Birmingham (born 4 August 1966) is Chair of Cancer Research UK[1] and an independent member of the House of Lords. He served as the eighth Chief Executive of NHS England from 2014 to 2021.[2]
The Lord Stevens of Birmingham | |
---|---|
Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal | |
Assumed office 5 July 2021 Life peerage | |
Chief Executive of NHS England | |
In office 1 April 2014 – 31 July 2021 | |
Preceded by | Sir David Nicholson |
Succeeded by | Amanda Pritchard |
Lambeth Borough Councillor for Angell Ward, Brixton | |
In office 7 May 1998 – 2 May 2002 | |
Personal details | |
Born | Simon Laurence Stevens (1966-08-04) 4 August 1966 (age 57) Shard End, Birmingham, England |
Political party | None (crossbencher) (2021–present) |
Other political affiliations | None - previously Labour Party |
Alma mater | Balliol College, Oxford (MA) University of Strathclyde (MBA) |
Awards | Knight Bachelor |
He joined the NHS in 1988, and worked at the Department of Health and 10 Downing Street, as well as internationally, including in Guyana, Malawi, and in the United States. A former member of the Labour Party, Stevens was an elected councillor in Brixton in the London Borough of Lambeth from 1998 to 2002. He served as a senior executive at the UnitedHealth Group from 2004 to 2014, an American health care company. He was a Visiting Professor at the London School of Economics from 2004 to 2008.
Stevens was appointed as Chief Executive of NHS England after a worldwide competitive search,[3] and served under Prime Ministers David Cameron, Theresa May and Boris Johnson. During his tenure as Chief Executive, Stevens was annually ranked the most influential person in UK health.[4][5]
Upon the announcement of his retirement as head of the NHS, he was hailed by the Health Service Journal as the most important figure in NHS history since Aneurin Bevan.[6] On 5 July 2021, he became a crossbench Member of the House of Lords[7] before stepping down from NHS England after seven years on 31 July 2021. He was succeeded by his deputy, Amanda Pritchard.[8]