Chris McCann

Who Chris McCann is

Chris McCann is the Acting Chief Executive of Healthwatch England, the independent statutory body that gathers and champions the views of people who use health and social care services in England. He took on the acting chief executive role on 17 December 2025, having previously served as Deputy Chief Executive and, before that, Director of Communications, Insight and Campaigns. Before joining Healthwatch England he worked at the Government Digital Service (part of the Cabinet Office). He has been a regular public voice on NHS waiting times, GP referral failures, and the expansion of community optometry, and has given evidence to parliamentary committees on the future of digital healthcare.

References for this biography

1. 1.Healthwatch England Chief Executive steps down | Healthwatch — Confirms Chris McCann as Deputy Chief Executive taking over as acting leader from 17 December 2025
2. 2.Chris McCann – Acting Chief Executive Healthwatch England | LinkedIn — Confirms current acting chief executive title and Queen's University Belfast education; identifies the account as his
3. 3.One in seven patients stuck in a GP referrals 'black hole' | Healthwatch — Confirms Deputy Chief Executive title and public advocacy on GP referral failures
4. 4.Utilise High Street optometry to cut NHS waiting times, Healthwatch England says | AOP — Press quote confirming Deputy Chief Executive role and eye care policy positions (March 2025)
5. 5.Public feedback leads to commitment to faster eye care | Healthwatch — Evidences policy impact of Healthwatch England's 2025 eye care research leading to £20m government investment
6. 6.Healthwatch England Public Committee Meeting 22 September 2025 — Confirms Healthwatch England office address: 2 Redman Place, Stratford, London E20 1JQ
7. 7.Chris McCann – Government Digital Service blog — Confirms prior employment at the Government Digital Service
8. 8.Is the future of healthcare digital? Lords Committee to ask BMA and Healthwatch England | UK Parliament — Confirms his role as Director of Communications, Insight and Campaigns and appearance before a House of Lords committee
9. 9.The Health Bill – Healthwatch response | Healthwatch Halton — Confirms Acting Chief Executive/Director title in 2026 and public position on the Health Bill and single patient record
10. 10.Healthwatch England responds to the Prime Minister's announcements on adult social care | Healthwatch Leicester and Leicestershire — Confirms Acting Chief Executive title as of August 2026 and public advocacy on adult social care reform

Notable achievements

• Led Healthwatch England's 'A Strain on Sight' research (March 2025) on NHS eye care waits, which contributed to a Government announcement of £20 million investment in digitised optometry referrals (July 2026). Source ↗
• Succeeded Louise Ansari as Acting Chief Executive of Healthwatch England from 17 December 2025, following her departure after nearly four years in the role. Source ↗
• Presented Healthwatch England's evidence on GP referral 'black holes' (December 2025), finding 14% of referrals were delayed, lost or rejected, prompting a DHSC response acknowledging the situation as 'not acceptable'. Source ↗
• Gave evidence to a House of Lords Committee on the future of digital healthcare as Director of Communications, Insight and Campaigns for Healthwatch England (November 2020). Source ↗

What Chris McCann has said

• “GP referrals are the gateway to specialist care and that's why healthcare leaders need to take action to ensure they work for everyone. Behind every delayed, lost, or rejected referral is a human story of pain, stress, and uncertainty.”

  Deputy Chief Executive at Healthwatch England · GP access · 30 Sept 2026 · One in seven patients stuck in a GP referrals ‘black hole’ ↗

• “GP referrals are the gateway to specialist care and that's why healthcare leaders need to take action to ensure they work for everyone. Behind every delayed, lost, or rejected referral is a human story of pain, stress and uncertainty.”

  deputy chief executive at Healthwatch England · NHS waiting lists · 30 Sept 2026 · Thousands of patients see NHS hospital referrals lost in ‘black hole’ ↗

• “The NHS 10-Year Plan aims to tackle long waits for elective care, however, this work needs to move faster if we want to boost patient confidence, stop the move towards two-tier healthcare, and restore the NHS as a truly universal service for all.”

  acting chief executive at Healthwatch England · NHS waiting lists · 30 Sept 2026 · Private healthcare surge sparks ‘two-tier’ health system fears amid long NHS waiting lists ↗

• “Our recent research shows that while patients continue to trust the NHS for health information, around one in 10 (9%) are using AI tools for information on staying healthy”

  deputy chief executive of Healthwatch England · Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 27 Aug 2026 · ‘From taboo to tool’: 30% of GPs in UK use AI tools in patient consultations, study finds ↗

• “Behind every delayed, lost or rejected referral is a human story of pain, stress and uncertainty. While improvements have been made, too many people remain stuck in this referral 'black hole', telling us that they're 'existing not living' due to delays.”

  Deputy Chief Executive of Healthwatch England · Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 27 Aug 2026 · Thousands of patients in England at risk as GP referrals vanish into NHS ‘black hole’ ↗

• “Short-term tweaks to the dental contract over recent years have failed to make major progress towards addressing the NHS dentistry crisis. Until data is published, it is also unclear how the government is progressing on its pledge to deliver 700,000 new urgent dental appointments.”

  Deputy chief executive of Healthwatch England · Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 27 Aug 2026 · Dentists in England to be paid more for emergency NHS appointments ↗

Where Chris McCann has been quoted

1. GPs told to guarantee same-day appointments for urgent casesbbc.co.uk · 30 Sept 2026
2. One in seven patients stuck in a GP referrals ‘black hole’healthwatch.co.uk · 30 Sept 2026
3. Thousands of patients see NHS hospital referrals lost in ‘black hole’independent.co.uk · 30 Sept 2026
4. Private healthcare surge sparks ‘two-tier’ health system fears amid long NHS waiting listsindependent.co.uk · 30 Sept 2026
5. ‘From taboo to tool’: 30% of GPs in UK use AI tools in patient consultations, study findstheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
6. Thousands of patients in England at risk as GP referrals vanish into NHS ‘black hole’theguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
7. Dentists in England to be paid more for emergency NHS appointmentstheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026

Related media coverage

Recent UK press coverage of their topics — not necessarily citing them directly.

• Why community empowerment needs an age-friendly approach more than everThe MJ
• HHS invests $27.8M in fall prevention programsHME News
• Leading risk factor for cancer revealed – and it’s not smoking, alcohol or the sunThe Independent

Contact & links

• LinkedInhttps://uk.linkedin.com/in/chris-mccann-0bb42731
• Staff pagehttps://www.healthwatch.co.uk/our-staff
• Press office emailAnna.Galandzij@healthwatch.co.ukpublished here ↗
• Press office phone03000 683 000published here ↗

Organisational contact points only, each taken from a page the organisation publishes itself. No personal or direct contact details are held or shown.