NICE Chief Sir Andrew Dillon to step down in 2020

pharmafile | August 22, 2019 | News story | Business Services, Manufacturing and Production, Medical Communications, Research and Development, Sales and Marketing |  NHS, NICE, UK pharma, UK< pharma 

It’s the end of an era at the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE), the UK watchdog responsible for negotiating and authorising access to therapies on the National Health Service (NHS), as its Chief Executive Sir Andrew Dillon announces that he will step down from his role at the end of March next year.

Sir Dillon originally joined the organisation in 1999 as its founding Chief Executive and has held the role since. He began his career at the NHS in 1975 after graduating from the University of Manchester, holding a range of roles including General Manager at the Royal Free Hospital from 1986 to 1991, and then Chief Executive of St George’s Healthcare NHS Trust until 1999.

“The role of Chief Executive of NICE must be one of the most challenging and potentially controversial in British public life. Sir Andrew has carried out this role for 20 enormously successful years, and everyone who knows him – whether in government, the life sciences industry, or in health and social care – is full of admiration for his calm and skilful leadership,” said NICE’s Chair Sir David Haslam. “He was there right at the birth of NICE, and will leave it as an internationally respected, world leading, and hugely influential organisation. That’s quite a legacy and I’d like to thank him for his unwavering, dedicated service to NICE for the past 20 years and to the NHS before that.”

Sir Dillon himself remarked: “It has been a privilege to lead the organisation through its first two decades. NICE has made a significant contribution to improving outcomes for people using the health and care services, and to the efficient use of resources. I feel very proud to be associated with those achievements.”

Matt Fellows