Penny is Chair of NHS England—the national board responsible for improving health and ensuring access to high quality care for the 55 million people who live in England. NHS England provides strategic direction, allocates funds and oversees 26 local payors (integrated care boards), 200 plus NHS provider organisations covering acute, mental health and community services along and over 7,000 primary care providers.
Penny has extensive experience in healthcare—she originally trained and worked as a physician, is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and has a MSc in Public Health Medicine and a MBA from Stanford Business School.
Penny has spent much of her career working in consulting—initially at the Boston Consulting Group and then at McKinsey & Co. While at McKinsey she led the healthcare practice in Europe and worked with a wide range of payors, providers, health systems, suppliers and investors globally. She has also worked in line management—as Director of Strategy for the NHS—and extensively at board level—she was Vice Chairman at the King’s Fund, the leading health related think tank in the UK, a Non-Executive Director at Monitor, Regulator of Foundation Trusts, Chair of North West London Integrated Care Board and has held a number of advisory board positions.
Penny founded and co-chairs the Cambridge Health Network, which brings together the leading players in the wider healthcare industry in the UK, for discussion and debate.
Outside of work, Penny enjoys travel, skiing, paddleboarding, swimming and spending time with her family and friends.