Mark Britnell

Mark Britnell (born 1966) is Director-General for Commissioning and System Management in the NHS. He has held the position since 1 July 2007.

In 2006 he was appointed as chief executive of the South Central Strategic Health Authority. From 2001-2006, he was chief executive at University Hospital Birmingham NHS Trust.

He is a graduate of Warwick University and during his time there was considered a Labour student activist. 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 Australian 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 1996, Mark became the Project Director for Ambulatory Care and Diagnostic (ACAD) PFI scheme - the first of its kind in the United Kingdom.

Mark 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 China and plays a leading part in the European Union sponsored development and exchange program with Academic Clinical Centres in South Africa.

In March 2006, after Nigel Crisp resigned as NHS Chief Executive, Britnell was tipped as a likely contender for the post. However, he did not apply for the job.