The government has announced that Professor Anthony Harnden will be the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency’s next chair.
Prof Harnden succeeds Stephen Lightfoot who joined six months into the pandemic and stepped down last year. The board had been co-chaired by Amanda Calvert, Michael Whitehouse OBE and Professor Graham Cooke in the interim.
Wealth of experience
Prof Harnden worked for the NHS for 40 years and is currently a primary care professor at the University of Oxford. The MHRA especially values the 33 years of frontline experience he is set to bring from his time as a GP in Oxfordshire.
Until next month, the new chair will also be a registrant council member at the General Medical Council as well as the chair of its remuneration committee.
During some of the NHS’s most challenging years, Prof Harnden played a key role in maintaining public trust and safety during the distribution of the Covid-19 vaccine when he was deputy chair at the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation.
Health minister Karin Smyth said: “I am delighted to welcome Anthony, who brings a wealth of regulatory and healthcare experience, including 33 years as a General Practitioner.
“The MHRA plays a vital role in ensuring the safe use of medicines, medical devices and blood transfusions across the UK and I look forward to working with Anthony as we reform our health service and make it fit for the future.”
Contributing to wider reform
Prof Harnden himself added: “It is a great honour and privilege to be appointed by ministers to be the next MHRA chair. I am looking forward to making a contribution to the future successes of the organisation.
“I will use my experience in healthcare and regulation to help the MHRA deliver its strategic priorities – keeping patients safe and enabling timely access to new medicines and technologies.”
Dr June Raine, MHRA CEO, believes Prof Harnden will be invaluable when setting strategy direction as well as ultimately protecting and promoting public health. One of the MHRA’s key goals is to retain the UK’s position as a global centre of excellence in life sciences.
The news comes shortly after the government announced the return of former health chief Alan Milburn, who served as both secretary of state and minister of state in the old Department of Health during Tony Blair’s premiership.
He will inform government strategy, performance and governance through his role as lead non-executive member to the board of the Department of Health and Social Care.
Image credits: iStock & Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency
