Emily Miles Appointed Chief Executive of the CQC
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has confirmed Emily Miles as its new Chief Executive, with the appointment taking effect this autumn.
Emily joins CQC from her current role as Director General for Food, Farming and Biosecurity at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). She takes over from Dr Arun Chopra, who has been serving as interim Chief Executive and will return to his substantive role as Chief Inspector of Mental Health.
Before her time at Defra, Emily was Chief Executive of the Food Standards Agency, where she oversaw food safety and consumer protection across England, Wales and Northern Ireland, giving her a track record of leading regulatory organisations through periods of significant change.
The appointment followed a recruitment process led by Kay Boycott, CQC’s Interim Chair, involving the regulator’s non-executive board members, representatives from stakeholder bodies and other regulators, and Baroness Julia Neuberger, the government’s preferred candidate for CQC’s next Chair.
Announcing the appointment, Kay Boycott said Emily’s experience leading organisations through change, building high-performing teams and rebuilding stakeholder trust would support CQC as it continues working to become a stronger, more effective regulator.
The news follows the earlier announcement by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, James Murray MP, that Rabbi Baroness Julia Neuberger DBE is the preferred candidate for CQC’s next Chair.
For providers, settled leadership at the top of CQC is worth watching. Much of the regulator’s ongoing turnaround programme, its work on the single assessment framework, and the pace of inspection activity depends on stability in these senior roles, so this is a development to keep an eye on over the coming months.
If you’d like support navigating CQC’s ongoing changes, get in touch with HLTH Compliance.