Mark Britnell
Encyclopedia
Mark Britnell is (since October 2009) a partner and Head of Healthcare, Europe & UK for advisory firm KPMG
. He was previously Director-General for Commissioning and System Management for the National Health Service
(NHS) of England (July 2007 - September 2009).
; during his time there he was a Trotskyist activist in the Labour Club
. He subsequently joined the fast-track Management
Training Scheme for the NHS and received his postgraduate education at Warwick University Business School.
His career
has included various management posts in the NHS and a spell with the Australia
n health service, a year in the civil service
fast stream which was sponsored by the Australian College of Health Service Executives to work in Melbourne
and Sydney
before being seconded to the NHSE in 1992. Britnell joined St Mary’s Hospital in London
as a General Manager before being appointed as a Director at Central Middlesex Hospital
(now part of North West London Hospitals NHS Trust) in 1995. In 1995, Mark became the Project Director for Ambulatory Care and Diagnostic (ACAD) PFI scheme - the first of its kind in the United Kingdom
.
From 2000 - 2006, he was chief executive at University Hospital Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust
. In 2006 he was appointed as chief executive of the South Central Strategic Health Authority. He was Director-General for Commissioning and System Management for the National Health Service
(NHS) of England (July 2007 - September 2009). In March 2006, after Nigel Crisp (his mentor) resigned as NHS Chief Executive, Britnell was tipped as a likely contender for the post. However, he did not apply for the job. In 2009 he left the NHS to join KPMG
.
and plays a leading part in the European Union
sponsored development and exchange program with Academic Clinical Centres in South Africa
. In May 2011, it was reported that he had been invited to join a panel of health experts to advise Number 10 on health policy and reform in general, but not the reforms in the Health and Social Care Bill 2011
.
The previous year, when discussing the reforms to a healthcare industry conference, he is quoted as stating “In future, The NHS will be a state insurance provider not a state deliverer”, and that “The NHS will be shown no mercy and the best time to take advantage of this will be in the next couple of years.”. KPMG issued a press statement on behalf of Britnell on 16 May 2011 stating “The article in The Observer [15 May] attributes quotes to me that do not properly reflect discussions held at a private conference last October. Nor was I given the opportunity to respond ahead of publication. I worked in the NHS for twenty years and now work alongside it. I have always been a passionate advocate of the NHS and believe that it has a great future. Like many other countries throughout the world, the pressure facing healthcare funding and provision are enormous. If the NHS is to change and modernize the public, private and voluntary sectors will all need to play their part.”
The Health Service Journal website published a longer statement from Britnell on 17 May, prompted by the article in The Observer. In it Britnell explained his perspective on the reform of the NHS. Among wide ranging remarks he stated that
“[o]f course, the vast majority of care - quite rightly in the UK context - will always be provided by public sector organisations (currently, about 95% of it) and will be paid out of taxation” and “[t]he issue of competition, which now seems to be conflated with privatisation, is unhelpful and misleading and, at best, only a small part of reform. Competition can exist without privatisation and the NHS can maintain its historic role in funding care while dealing with a richer variety of providers - public sector, social enterprise and private organisations.”
KPMG
KPMG is one of the largest professional services networks in the world and one of the Big Four auditors, along with Deloitte, Ernst & Young and PwC. Its global headquarters is located in Amstelveen, Netherlands....
. He was previously Director-General for Commissioning and System Management for the National Health Service
National Health Service
The National Health Service is the shared name of three of the four publicly funded healthcare systems in the United Kingdom. They provide a comprehensive range of health services, the vast majority of which are free at the point of use to residents of the United Kingdom...
(NHS) of England (July 2007 - September 2009).
Career
Britnell is a graduate of the University of WarwickUniversity of Warwick
The University of Warwick is a public research university located in Coventry, United Kingdom...
; during his time there he was a Trotskyist activist in the Labour Club
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
. He subsequently joined the fast-track Management
Management
Management in all business and organizational activities is the act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives using available resources efficiently and effectively...
Training Scheme for the NHS and received his postgraduate education at Warwick University Business School.
His career
Career
Career is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as a person's "course or progress through life ". It is usually considered to pertain to remunerative work ....
has included various management posts in the NHS and a spell with the Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n health service, a year in the civil service
Civil service
The term civil service has two distinct meanings:* A branch of governmental service in which individuals are employed on the basis of professional merit as proven by competitive examinations....
fast stream which was sponsored by the Australian College of Health Service Executives to work in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
and Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
before being seconded to the NHSE in 1992. Britnell joined St Mary’s Hospital in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
as a General Manager before being appointed as a Director at Central Middlesex Hospital
Central Middlesex Hospital
Central Middlesex hospital is in the centre of the Park Royal business estate, on the border of two London boroughs, Brent and Ealing.-Hospital role:CMH is a teaching hospital of Imperial College School of Medicine and part of the...
(now part of North West London Hospitals NHS Trust) in 1995. In 1995, Mark became the Project Director for Ambulatory Care and Diagnostic (ACAD) PFI scheme - the first of its kind in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
.
From 2000 - 2006, he was chief executive at University Hospital Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust
University Hospital Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust
The University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust provides adult district general hospital services for South Birmingham as well as specialist treatments for the West Midlands.The trust comprises three hospitals on two sites, which are 1.5 miles apart...
. In 2006 he was appointed as chief executive of the South Central Strategic Health Authority. He was Director-General for Commissioning and System Management for the National Health Service
National Health Service
The National Health Service is the shared name of three of the four publicly funded healthcare systems in the United Kingdom. They provide a comprehensive range of health services, the vast majority of which are free at the point of use to residents of the United Kingdom...
(NHS) of England (July 2007 - September 2009). In March 2006, after Nigel Crisp (his mentor) resigned as NHS Chief Executive, Britnell was tipped as a likely contender for the post. However, he did not apply for the job. In 2009 he left the NHS to join KPMG
KPMG
KPMG is one of the largest professional services networks in the world and one of the Big Four auditors, along with Deloitte, Ernst & Young and PwC. Its global headquarters is located in Amstelveen, Netherlands....
.
Policy Advisor
Britnell plays an active part in the Modernisation Agenda and sat on the Professions Modernisation Action Team which helped produce the NHS Plan. He currently sits on the Capital and Capacity Taskforce for the NHS Plan. He has also represented the Department of Health on the study/development tour of ChinaChina
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
and plays a leading part in the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
sponsored development and exchange program with Academic Clinical Centres in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
. In May 2011, it was reported that he had been invited to join a panel of health experts to advise Number 10 on health policy and reform in general, but not the reforms in the Health and Social Care Bill 2011
Health and Social Care Bill 2011
The Health and Social Care Bill 2011 is proposed health care reform legislation introduced in the House of Commons on 19 January 2011. If passed, the Bill would be the most extensive reorganisation of the structure of the National Health Service in England to date. It proposes to abolish NHS...
.
The previous year, when discussing the reforms to a healthcare industry conference, he is quoted as stating “In future, The NHS will be a state insurance provider not a state deliverer”, and that “The NHS will be shown no mercy and the best time to take advantage of this will be in the next couple of years.”. KPMG issued a press statement on behalf of Britnell on 16 May 2011 stating “The article in The Observer [15 May] attributes quotes to me that do not properly reflect discussions held at a private conference last October. Nor was I given the opportunity to respond ahead of publication. I worked in the NHS for twenty years and now work alongside it. I have always been a passionate advocate of the NHS and believe that it has a great future. Like many other countries throughout the world, the pressure facing healthcare funding and provision are enormous. If the NHS is to change and modernize the public, private and voluntary sectors will all need to play their part.”
The Health Service Journal website published a longer statement from Britnell on 17 May, prompted by the article in The Observer. In it Britnell explained his perspective on the reform of the NHS. Among wide ranging remarks he stated that
“[o]f course, the vast majority of care - quite rightly in the UK context - will always be provided by public sector organisations (currently, about 95% of it) and will be paid out of taxation” and “[t]he issue of competition, which now seems to be conflated with privatisation, is unhelpful and misleading and, at best, only a small part of reform. Competition can exist without privatisation and the NHS can maintain its historic role in funding care while dealing with a richer variety of providers - public sector, social enterprise and private organisations.”
External links
- Profile: Dr Mark Britnell, Global Head of Health, KPMGKPMGKPMG is one of the largest professional services networks in the world and one of the Big Four auditors, along with Deloitte, Ernst & Young and PwC. Its global headquarters is located in Amstelveen, Netherlands....
- Mark Britnell at the Department of HealthDepartment of Health (United Kingdom)The Department of Health is a department of the United Kingdom government with responsibility for government policy for health and social care matters and for the National Health Service in England along with a few elements of the same matters which are not otherwise devolved to the Scottish,...
, 11 March 2008 (archived) - Column archive at NHS CPC Creative
- Mark Britnell collected news and commentary at Health Service JournalHealth Service JournalHealth Service Journal is a weekly news print title and website on the British National Health Service, healthcare management and health policy....
- Mark Britnell, Patrick Butler, The GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, 19 September 2001