Mark Britnell

Mark Britnell is one of the foremost global experts on healthcare systems and has a pioneering and inspiring global vision for health in both the developed and developing world. In dedicating his entire professional life to healthcare, for over 30 years he has delivered strategy, policy and operations solutions to teams in 81 countries on 385 occasions and counting. He has led organizations at local, regional, national, and international levels, on both the provider and payer sides, and in public and private sectors. In 2022, he took his worldly experience to the education space, cultivating the brilliant minds of tomorrow as a professor at both the Global Business School for Health at University College London and the Sandra Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto. ‍ In his 13 years at KPMG, Britnell held various titles across the firm including KPMG International’s Global Head of Health between 2009 and 2020, Global Head of Infrastructure, Government and Healthcare between March 2018 and September 2020, and most recently Senior Partner and Vice Chairman at KPMG in the UK. During this time, he delivered sustained growth, accounting for 22% of total global revenues, and managed 45,000 staff across 145 countries. ‍ Britnell is the award-winning author of two books of global acclaim exploring the successes and failures of the world’s healthcare systems. His first book, In Search of the Perfect Health System, puts 25 healthcare systems under the microscope, revealing the different ways jurisdictions respond to healthcare challenges. Sold in over 100 countries, the book was recognized by the Chinese Medical Doctors’ Association as the best health book in 2017, and in the UK by the British Medical Association in 2016. His most recent book, Human: Solving the Global Workforce Crisis in Healthcare, examines how the healthcare worker shortage issue has and will continue to impact some of the world’s leading health systems, while boldly offering 10 concrete and actionable solutions to help navigate the continually growing deficit. Having survived prostate cancer, he donates proceeds from his books to Prostate Cancer UK. ‍ Prior to his work with KPMG, Britnell worked his way up the National Health Service ladder. After joining the UK’s NHS fast-track Management Training Scheme in 1989, he held several senior operational and government posts before being appointed Chief Executive of University Hospitals Birmingham, one of the highest performing hospitals in the UK. He masterminded Queen Elizabeth Hospital — the largest new hospital build in NHS history — and established the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine. He was then named Chief Executive of NHS South Central and led the successful financial turnaround of the region before joining the NHS Management Board as Director General at the Department of Health, where he designed, developed, and delivered "High Quality Care for All" with Lord Darzi. As Executive Director of Central Middlesex Hospital NHS Trust, he developed the first-ever Ambulatory Care & Diagnostic Centre in the UK. ‍ He is a Chairman of the Global Impact Committee in Beamtree, Australia and Trustee of The King’s Fund, the oldest health charity think tank in the world, based in London. Previously, he was a Non-Executive Director at Dr Foster Intelligence, a trustee of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, and a Board member of Prostate Cancer UK.