Biography

As the Director of Public Health for Bristol, one of the leading cities of Europe, Hugh is responsible for public health policy and strategy, for ensuring a coordinated approach between the National Health Service and local government, and for providing strategic leadership for reducing health inequalities while improving the health of the population. He is a Visiting Professor in Health and Life Sciences at the University of the West of England and a member of the Appeal Committee of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE). Prior to re-entering the NHS in 2002 Hugh was Head of the Health Department of the Secretariat of the Aga Khan with responsibility for one of the largest non-profit private health care systems in Africa and Asia. Previously he was Head of the International Health Division at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, which became a WHO Collaborating Centre for Health Systems Development during his tenure. He has lived and worked in various regions of the world and maintains his engagement with global health issues through teaching, research and consultancy.

As a public health specialist Hugh has extensive experience in the development and reform, management and governance of public, and non-profit, private health systems and services in low and middle income countries in Africa and Asia, and in the UK National Health Service. Hugh has particular expertise in setting up quality monitoring and evaluation systems, in the context of mixed modes for (including community-based and CBO) service delivery. Prior experience includes expert technical advice to the WHO on indicators for management of Maternal and Child / Family planning services; expert advice to WHO Consultations on Sustainable Health Systems, and Health for All Strategies; and numerous consultancies in the area of monitoring and evaluation, most recently as part of monitoring missions for DFID’s PATHS project in Nigeria.