2002/049 Appointment of Professor Leon Fine as Non-executive Director of NICE

NICE 2002/ 049
Issued: 3 October 2002

PRESS RELEASE

The Department of Health today announced the appointment of Professor Leon G Fine as a Non-executive Director of the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE).

Professor Fine is Professor of Medicine and Chairman of the Division of Medicine and Head of the Department of Medicine at the Royal Free and University College London Medical School.

Professor Sir Michael Rawlins, Chair of NICE said: "I am delighted that Professor Fine will be joining the board of the Institute. Professor Fine brings with him an international reputation for his clinical and academic contributions to health care. He has also been closely involved in evaluating the quality of care in the UK and US. His continuing involvement in the day-to-day practice of clinical medicine in the NHS means that he will be a valuable member of the board"

Professor Fine said, "I feel privileged to have been afforded the opportunity of contributing to the process of improving the quality of healthcare in the NHS as a member of the Board of NICE. NICE is surely unique in its role as organisation charged with promoting high quality healthcare on a national level. Not only does its standard-setting decisions on clinical and cost-effectiveness impact upon a vast number of patients and healthcare professionals in the NHS, but it is also poised to provide leadership in the international arena, where increasingly fractured and expensive healthcare delivery systems are seeking directions and solutions to the burden of providing the best healthcare to all citizens at the most reasonable cost."

Ends

Notes to Editors

1. Professor Leon G Fine is Professor of Medicine and Chairman of the Division of Medicine and Head of the Department of Medicine at the Royal Free and University College London Medical School.
2. He took up this position in 1991 having moved from the University of California Los Angeles, where he was Chief of the Division of Nephrology for 13 years.
3. A practising physician and nephrologist as well as a laboratory scientist, his interests range from the basic biology of chronic kidney disease to clinical medicine and issues relevant to the quality of health care.
4. In recent years he has been involved in health policy research as part of a UK-USA collaboration on public release of healthcare information.
5. He has recently directed a demonstration project, sponsored by the Nuffield Trust and the Rand Corporation, which has assessed the quality of the cardiac surgery outcomes database in the UK and which instituted a process of monitoring validation and feedback aimed at improving its reliability prior to public release.
6. Professor Fine took up his position with NICE on 1st October 2002.
7. NICE is the independent organisation responsible for providing national guidance on treatments and care for those using the NHS in England and Wales.
8. In March Professor Parveen Kumar was appointed chair of the Medicines Commission and was therefore unable to continue as a Non-executive Director of NICE. As NICE is a Special Health Authority, the Department of Health and the Welsh Assembly Government appointed Professor Fine via the NHS Appointments Commission
9. Professor Fine joins Professor Tony Culyer, Frederick George, Suzanna Lawrence OBE, Mary McClarey, Roy Luff and Mercy Jeyasingham as Non-executive members of the Institute's Board.
10. A photograph of Professor Fine is available from Louise Fish, Communications Director