Richard Murray, currently director of policy at The King’s Fund, has been appointed as its new chief executive.
He will succeed Professor Sir Chris Ham, the current chief executive, who steps down at the end of 2018.
Commenting on the appointment, Sir Christopher Kelly, chairman of The King’s Fund’s Board of Trustees, said: "I am delighted that Richard will be the Fund’s new chief executive. He has made a significant contribution to the Fund’s work as director of policy and his knowledge and understanding of the health and care system is second to none. I am confident that he will build on the Fund’s achievements in recent years and that the organisation will go from strength to strength under his leadership."
Richard currently leads the policy team at The King’s Fund and his responsibilities include overseeing the policy work programme and contributing to the wider work of the Fund, particularly to understand the key challenges and opportunities facing health and care.
Before joining The King’s Fund in January 2014, Richard was chief analyst at NHS England and had held a number of roles at the Department of Health, including senior economic adviser, director of strategy, director of financial planning and chief analyst, and director of finance, quality, strategy and analysis.
Richard initially trained as an economist and spent five years in academia before joining the Department of Health as an economic adviser. Following this he spent four years as a health care specialist at McKinsey & Co.
Richard Murray added: "After five very enjoyable years at the Fund, I am thrilled to be taking over as Chief Executive. With the health and care system facing significant challenges, our role in providing high-quality, independent policy analysis and supporting leaders has never been more vital. It will be a privilege to continue working with such a talented group of people and to lead such a great organisation."
Richard is due to take up the post on 2 January 2019.
