Common challenges and policy responses: international lessons for the NHS

Hugh leads the Health Foundation’s research and analysis on NHS and social care policy. He has published widely on NHS reform and policies to integrate health and social services in the UK and internationally. Hugh has a PhD in health services research and policy from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. 

Before he joined the Health Foundation, Hugh was a Harkness Fellow in Health Care Policy and Practice at the University of California, San Francisco, and Berkeley. Hugh’s research in the US focused on health system approaches to addressing patients’ social and economic needs, like unstable housing and food insecurity.

Before that, Hugh worked at The King’s Fund as Senior Policy Adviser to the Chief Executive, where he published research and analysis on a range of policy areas. He also provided policy advice to the NHS and government. Hugh has also worked as a management consultant at PwC, working on health policy and improvement, and on Sir John Oldham’s Independent Commission on Whole Person Care.

You can see a list of Hugh’s publications via Google Scholar. 

Ruth has been Chief Executive of the Resolution Foundation, an independent think-tank dedicated to lifting living standards in the UK, since January 2025. The Foundation focusses particularly on households with low and middle incomes; those on low pay or in precarious work; and those vulnerable to financial shocks. It also investigates fairness between the generations though its Intergenerational Centre. Ruth leads the Foundation’s rigorous analytical work and development of effective policy proposals. Ruth regularly chairs the Foundation’s wide programme of events, engages with politicians from across the political spectrum, and is a guest on TV and radio. 

Ruth was previously Director of fiscal policy at HM Treasury (HMT) where she worked for over 15 years. Her career has focused on domestic economic policy including labour markets, tax, fiscal policy and financial regulation. Ruth has held a wide range of roles in HMT, including working in the Chancellor’s private office. 

Dr Penny Dash has focused her career on improving the quality and efficiency of health and care services in order to enhance life expectancy and quality of life. She has worked both as a hospital doctor and a public health physician and previously served as Head of Strategy for the NHS and the Department of Health and Social Care. 

Over the past two decades, Penny has built an extensive international reputation as a senior advisor to healthcare systems globally. She spent five years with the Boston Consulting Group and over 20 years with McKinsey & Company, where she was a Partner and Senior Partner, and led McKinsey’s healthcare practice across Europe. She has held several board positions, including Vice Chair of The King’s Fund, Non-Executive Director on the board of Monitor (the former regulator of NHS Foundation Trusts), and most recently as Chair of the North West London Integrated Care Board. 

Jennifer was Chief Executive of the Nuffield Trust from 2008 to 2013. Prior to this, she was Director of Policy at The King’s Fund and was the policy advisor to the Chief Executive of the National Health Service between 1998 and 2000. Jennifer has undertaken research and published widely on health care reform both in the UK and internationally.

Originally trained in medicine, Jennifer practised mainly paediatric medicine, prior to a career in policy analysis. She has a Master’s in public health and a PhD in health services research from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. In 1990–91, Jennifer was a Harkness Fellow in New York.

Jennifer has served as a Board member of the Health Care Commission 2004–2009; the Audit Commission 2003–2012; the Care Quality Commission 2013–2016 and the UK Health Security Agency 2022–2024. She has led two national inquiries for government: on the setting up of published ratings of quality of NHS and social care providers in England (2013); and on the setting up of ratings for general practices (2015). She was also a member of the Parliamentary Review Panel for the Welsh Assembly Government advising on the future strategy for the NHS and social care in Wales (2017–2018).

Jennifer was elected a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians in 2009 and a fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences in 2019, and she was awarded a doctorate of science from Bristol University in 2016. She is a visiting professor at the London School of Economics, and has held similar positions at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and Imperial College Business School. In January 2024 Jennifer was awarded a damehood in the New Years Honours.

Dr Ewout van Ginneken is the Director of the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies. He was previously Coordinator of the Berlin hub at the Berlin University of Technology.  

His expertise is in comparative international health systems research and health policy research. His main interests include health financing, health access, insurance competition, care purchasing, integrated care, cross-border care, and migrants’ access to care. He has published widely on these topics in international peer-reviewed literature and the wider literature.  He is a series coordinator of the Health Systems in Transition (HiT) series and has co-authored the HiT template as well as several reviews including on the health care systems of Bulgaria, Czechia, Estonia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Slovakia, Slovenia and the United States of America. 

Before joining the Observatory, Ewout was a senior researcher at the Berlin University of Technology and a 2011–2012 Commonwealth Fund Harkness Fellow in Health Care Policy and Practice at the Harvard School of Public Health. He holds a master’s degree in health policy and administration from Maastricht University in the Netherlands, and a PhD in public health from the Berlin University of Technology.  

Martin Hefford is a New Zealand health leader with extensive experience in health policy, commissioning and service delivery. He played a significant role in the development and implementation of New Zealand’s landmark early-2000s primary care reforms, which expanded access, introduced enrolment and capitation, and placed greater emphasis on reducing health inequalities. 

A previous Commonwealth Fund Harkness Fellow based at Kaiser Permanente, Martin has maintained a strong international interest in primary care innovation. He was inaugural Chair of New Zealand’s Health Care Home Collaborative, supporting the development and national spread of new models of primary care. 

Martin has published on primary care reform and health inequalities, workforce and task substitution, and the Health Care Home model. His current interests include primary care innovation reform, integrated care, workforce innovation, primary mental health, and improving access through new technologies. 

A graduate of the NHS Management Training Scheme, Richard began his career developing GP commissioning in Birmingham. He moved to Sandwell & West Birmingham NHS Trust initially as Director of Strategy and, later, as Chief Operating Officer. Richard’s first chief executive officer post was at Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust providing acute and community services.  

Richard became Chief Executive Officer of Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS FT in 2018. In this role, he has worked with partners in Birmingham to develop integrated health and social care services in neighbourhoods and localities.  

Richard is Chair of The Community Network and a Fellow of the Sciana Health Leaders Network.   

Philippa Kirkpatrick is Chief Information Officer at Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. She leads the Trust’s digital, data and information strategy, driving major transformation programmes including enabling transformation of care delivery through optimisation of electronic patient records, cyber security, digital medicines and data infrastructure and tooling. Philippa has extensive international healthcare leadership experience and is committed to using technology to improve patient outcomes and staff experience. 

Alexandre Lourenço is President of the European Association of Hospital Managers (EAHM), where he represents and connects hospital leaders across Europe in shaping the future of healthcare delivery. A senior healthcare executive and academic with more than 20 years of experience, he has worked spanning health system governance, reform, and innovation across the continent and beyond. 

He is an Assistant Professor at the NOVA National School of Public Health, where he leads the WHO Collaborating Centre on Health Management — a platform for advancing evidence-based leadership and management practice in health systems worldwide. For over a decade, he has also served as a consultant to the World Health Organisation, supporting health system reforms in multiple countries with a focus on financing, service delivery, and strategic planning. 

Before stepping into European leadership, Alexandre was CEO and Chairman of Coimbra's Integrated Health Delivery System (ULS), Portugal's largest healthcare organisation, with over 10,000 professionals. He holds a PhD in Management from NOVA School of Business & Economics. His work is driven by a strong commitment to integrated, people-centred, and sustainable health systems. 

Mark Pearson is Acting Director for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs (ELS) at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Mr. Pearson works with the Director to provide leadership in the policy advice and support that the Organisation gives to countries on health, social policies, employment and migration. Mr. Pearson joined the OECD in 1992, initially working on tax issues. He became the head of the Social Policy Division from 2000-2008. In 2009 he was Head of the Health Division where the central focus of work was on how to deliver health care with greater efficiency. As Deputy Director since 2015, he has overseen the work of the Organisation on topics such as Antimicrobial resistance, Diversity, Inequality and Pharmaceutical Pricing.

Liina-Kaisa Tynkkynen has a PhD in health and social policy and her fields of expertise include health systems and policy research, health system reforms, and international health system comparisons. She currently works as a chief researcher at the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), where she also leads a team responsible for developing the funding model for wellbeing services counties, which are responsible for healthcare and social services in Finland. Tynkkynen has extensive experience in international collaboration through various networks and projects run by for instance the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies as well as WHO Europe. Her most recent expert work includes serving as a member of an expert group conducting an interim evaluation of the health and social services reform in Finland, as well as serving as a member of the secretariat of a parliamentary group on the future of the health and social services system in Finland. Tynkkynen appears frequently in national prime time media and has extensive experience speaking at various healthcare and health policy events.