Professor Jonathan Benger CBE has been named the new chief executive of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), officially taking over from Dr Samantha Roberts on 19 December 2025.
Professor Benger joined NICE in January 2023 as chief medical officer and has since served as interim director of the Centre for Guidelines and deputy chief executive.
He has previously held national roles including interim chief clinical information officer at NHS England and chief medical officer of NHS Digital.
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Alongside his leadership roles, Professor Benger continues to practise as a consultant in emergency medicine at Bristol Royal Infirmary and works shifts with the Great Western Air Ambulance, a charity he helped to establish.
Commenting on the appointment, NICE chair Sharmila Nebhrajani OBE said: 'Jonathan is widely respected in the sector and his extensive front-line clinical and national policy experience make him supremely well placed to lead our organisation through the next phase of its development.'
Professor Benger said he was ‘honoured’ to be appointed at ‘such an important time for the NHS and for healthcare innovation’.
He added: 'NICE plays a vital role in helping practitioners and commissioners get the best care to people fast, while ensuring value for the taxpayer.
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‘My priority is to build on NICE's reputation for independence, transparency and rigour, respond to current system challenges and ensure we continue to support the delivery of excellence in healthcare.'
The appointment comes ahead of an expansion of NICE's remit in April 2026 as part of the government's 10-year health plan for the NHS.
Under the new plans, NICE will begin evaluating high-impact health technologies aimed at addressing urgent NHS priorities, with approved technologies reimbursed and made available across the NHS in the same way as medicines.
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NICE will also work with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to accelerate joint decisions on safety and value, aiming to speed up access to new treatments by three to six months.
In addition, NICE will take on a rolling role in reviewing existing clinical pathways to identify treatments that no longer represent good value for money, with the aim of enabling NHS resources to be redirected towards newer innovations.
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