The Care Quality Commission has named Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) senior official Emily Miles as its new chief executive.
Ms Miles - who is set to leave her current role of director general for food, farming and biosecurity to join the regulator in October - will take over from interim chief executive Dr Arun Chopra, who will return to his former role as chief inspector of mental health at the organisation.
The watchdog said that Miles brings ‘significant’ regulatory experience to the role, having previously served as chief executive of the Food Standards Agency, overseeing food safety and consumer protection across England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The appointment follows a recruitment process led by CQC interim chair Kay Boycott, involving non-executive board members, stakeholder representatives, regulators and the Government’s preferred candidate for CQC chair Baroness Julia Neuberger.
Her appointment comes as CQC continues work to rebuild confidence in its regulatory approach and assessment processes across health and adult social care under new leadership, and is currently rolling out pilots following a shakeup of its inspection framework.
‘Putting people’s needs first’
Ms Miles said she “will do all I can to make sure that the independent regulator of health and social care protects people and supports services to improve – as well as encouraging services to work better together so people stay well and get high-quality care when they need it.”
