Former RCGP chair Professor David Haslam is set to become the head of NICE, after being named as the Government’s preferred candidate for the post of chair.
Professor Haslam is set to lead the organisation as it becomes the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence in April 2013, taking on responsibility for ensuring quality and value for money in social care as well as healthcare.
After the pre-appointment scrutiny hearing by MPs this week, the health secretary Jeremy Hunt will decide whether or not to proceed with the appointment.
Professor Haslam will take over as chairman from Professor Sir Michael Rawlins, who has chaired NICE since its creation in 1999.
Professor Haslam is currently chair of the NICE Evidence Accreditation Advisory Committee, he is the immediate-past president of the BMA and was the president of the RCGP from 2006 to 2009.
A retired GP from Huntingdon, he is an experienced publisher and broadcaster on health issues and was awarded the CBE in 2004 for services to medicine and health care.
NICE chief executive Sir Andrew Dillon, said: ‘We are delighted to learn that Professor David Haslam is the preferred candidate to become the new chair of NICE, from April 2013.
‘His extensive experience in health and his awareness of the challenges facing social care, together with his knowledge of the Institute, make him an ideal candidate to lead NICE into the next exciting phase of its development.’
