Dr Chris PackhamClinician

Biography

Dr Chris Packham is a consultant public health physician, practising inner-city GP in Nottingham, and associate medical director at Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust. Since February 2025 he has also served as the Royal College of Physicians' special adviser on population health, informing the RCP's campaigning on social determinants of health and health inequalities. He qualified with honours from the University of Nottingham in 1981 and subsequently completed an MD in cardiovascular epidemiology. He was previously director of public health in Nottingham and honorary professor of public health in the Faculty of Medicine at Nottingham University. He is known for arguing that the NHS cannot sustain current demand without decisive upstream action on prevention, and that a cross-government strategy is needed to address the wider determinants of ill health.

References

1. 1.RCP appoints special adviser on population health | RCP — Appointment as RCP special adviser on population health from February 2025; current roles at Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust; qualifications, career history and areas of expertise
2. 2.Joined-up government action lies at the heart of tackling health inequalities, but the health service must act too | RCP — Policy positions on population health, cross-government strategy, and health inequalities; full biographical note
3. 3.Shifting from sickness to prevention: we must go further | RCP — Advocacy for measurable prevention commitments in the government's 10 Year Health Plan; full biographical note confirming all current roles
4. 4.Tackling health inequalities in improvement work: Conversations with Dr Chris Packham | RCP

Expertise

Cited on

• Learning disability & autism
• Public health & prevention

Stated areas of expertise

• Population health
• Health inequalities
• Public health prevention
• Social determinants of health
• NHS workforce and demand
• Health and care pathway design

Notable achievements

• Appointed RCP special adviser on population health from 7 February 2025, succeeding Professor Carol Brayne CBE Source ↗
• Chaired NHS England's professional network of Public Health Specialists working in NHS provider trusts Source ↗
• Served as chair of examiners for the Faculty of Public Health (FPH) and chaired FPH's UK Health Services Committee until 2024 Source ↗
• Served as vice-chair of the Public Health Advisory Committee A for NICE Source ↗
• Served as Executive Director of Public Health in Nottingham for ten years (2001–2011) and as national Vice President of the Association of Directors of Public Health (2008–12) Source ↗

What they’ve said

• “As with all of the people we suspect of having had neurodivergent traits, from Alan Turing to Isaac Newton, it's impossible to provide retrospective diagnoses, so we can only offer conjecture about that. But if Turner did have significant neurodiverse traits, I imagine they would have had quite a profound impact on his art and thinking.”

  Ambassador for the National Autistic Society · Learning disability & autism · 27 Aug 2026 · Documentary explores whether JMW Turner may have been neurodivergent ↗

• “As physicians, we see every day the consequences of preventable illness in our clinics, wards and at the front door of our hospitals. We treat people with alcohol-related liver disease, tobacco-related cancers, obesity-related complications and a wide range of conditions driven by poverty, poor housing, poor air quality and other social factors.”

  RCP special adviser on public health and prevention, consultant public health physician and associate medical director at Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS trust · Public health & prevention · 27 Aug 2026 · Why physicians must lead the prevention agenda ↗

Source references

1. Documentary explores whether JMW Turner may have been neurodivergenttheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
2. Why physicians must lead the prevention agendarcp.ac.uk · 27 Aug 2026

Contact & links

• Staff pagehttps://www.rcp.ac.uk/news-and-media/news-and-opinion/rcp-appoints-special-adviser-on-population-health/
• Press office emailhttps://www.rcp.ac.uk/news-and-media/press/
• LinkedInhttps://uk.linkedin.com/in/chris-packham-51892168published here ↗

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