Professor Habib Naqvi

Who Professor Habib Naqvi is

Professor Habib Naqvi MBE is the founding Chief Executive of the NHS Race and Health Observatory, an independent body hosted by the NHS Confederation and supported by NHS England, which works nationally and internationally to identify and tackle ethnic inequalities in health and healthcare through research, policy recommendations, and long-term transformational change. He joined the NHS in 2001 and spent several years at the Department of Health and Social Care leading national equality and diversity policy, including the development of the Equality Delivery System and the health sector's response to the Ministerial review of the Public Sector Equality Duty. From 2013 he directed national health equity programmes at NHS England, including the Workforce Race Equality Standard, and has given evidence to the House of Commons Health and Social Care Committee. He holds an honorary visiting professorship in health equity at the Queen's Institute for Medicine, University of Bolton, and received a Fellowship through distinction at the Faculty of Public Health in 2023. He was awarded an MBE in the 2019 Queen's Birthday Honours for services to equality and diversity in the NHS. He is known for arguing that ethnicity data collection in the NHS is outdated and that reform of the Mental Health Act is essential to achieving mental health equity for Black and minority ethnic people.

References for this biography

1. 1.About us – NHS Race and Health Observatory — Current role as Chief Executive, responsibilities, and career background
2. 2.Habib Naqvi MBE – NHS ConfedExpo 2025 — Full career biography including MBE, FFPH fellowship, professorship, and HSJ listing
3. 3.Habib Naqvi: 'Policymakers should acknowledge that communities know better' – New Statesman, May 2024 — Confirms founding chief executive status and his public policy positions on ethnicity data and Mental Health Act reform
4. 4.Habib Naqvi MBE – HSJ Provider Summit — HSJ 100 most influential people in health 2022 listing; trustee of Mary Seacole Trust
5. 5.Professor Habib Naqvi MBE FFPH – University of Greater Manchester Medical School — CDC partnership and honorary professorship at University of Bolton
6. 6.Dr Habib Naqvi MBE – Equality and Human Rights Commission — Role at NHS England from 2013 including Equality Delivery System and Workforce Race Equality Standard
7. 7.Contact us – NHS Race and Health Observatory — Organisation head office address (SW1P 3HZ) and press contact details
8. 8.Dr Habib Naqvi MBE (@DrHNaqvi) on X — Verified X/Twitter account identifying him as Chief Executive of @NHS_RHO

Notable achievements

• Appointed founding Chief Executive of the NHS Race and Health Observatory on its establishment Source ↗
• Awarded MBE in the 2019 Queen's Birthday Honours for services to equality and diversity in the NHS Source ↗
• Received Fellowship through distinction at the Faculty of Public Health in 2023 Source ↗
• Listed in the Health Service Journal's '100 most influential people in health' (2022) Source ↗
• Forged partnership with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on global health equity work Source ↗
• Directed the development of the NHS Workforce Race Equality Standard at NHS England from 2013 Source ↗

What Professor Habib Naqvi has said

• “By strengthening their collective commitment to race equality, healthcare regulatory bodies are actively dismantling barriers and ensuring that our healthcare system is a place where talent thrives regardless of background.”

  Chief Executive of NHS Race and Health Observatory · Medical ethics & regulation · 30 Sept 2026 · Health and social care regulators sign up to new anti-racism principles ↗

• “Panel member who contributed to the roundtable discussion on effective strategies to support and sustain a diverse NHS workforce from ethnic minority groups.”

  Chief Executive of the NHS Race and Health Observatory · NHS & care workforce/staffing · 30 Sept 2026 · UCL researchers take part in parliamentary roundtable on NHS staff retention | UCL News ↗

• “We welcome the launch of the NHS staff standard for tackling racism. It brings vital focus to leadership, accountability, transparency and structural change needed across the health service. Our diverse workforce is the backbone of the NHS, delivering outstanding care under pressure.”

  Chief Executive, NHS Race and Health Observatory · NHS & care workforce/staffing · 30 Sept 2026 · NHS sets first-ever staff standards to tackle racism and violence ↗

• “This research has the potential to change how we understand, measure and respond to the true cost of racism in the NHS. Racism is not only a profound moral and social injustice; it also carries a significant financial cost to the public purse through avoidable litigation, delayed care, poorer outcomes, workforce harm and lost productivity.”

  Chief Executive of NHS Race and Health Observatory · NHS & care workforce/staffing · 30 Sept 2026 · NHS to study economic cost of racism and race inequalities on healthcare ↗

• “There is a clear and urgent need for improved workplace adjustments, tailored support for the workforce, and increased learning and understanding of the impact of long COVID for the wider health and care system. We simply cannot afford for history to repeat itself.”

  Chief Executive of the NHS Race and Health Observatory · Long Covid · 30 Sept 2026 · 1 in 4 infected UK healthcare workers developed long COVID, report shows ↗

• “Prof Habib Naqvi, the chief executive of the NHS Race and Health Observatory”

  chief executive of the NHS Race and Health Observatory · Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 27 Aug 2026 · Change prostate cancer treatment for black men to avoid ‘epidemic’, NHS urged ↗

• “It's shocking to see the levels of racism within our communities and across modern Britain today – levels that we have not witnessed for decades. We know our NHS is not immune from this scourge because it is a microcosm of wider society – what happens on our streets and within society does play out in the 1.5 million people that work in the NHS.”

  Chief Executive of the NHS Race and Health Observatory · Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 27 Aug 2026 · NHS staff bearing brunt as ‘ugly’ racism of 70s and 80s returns, says Streeting ↗

• “The introduction of the new genetic testing is a 'groundbreaking outcome in the use of chemotherapy, which is already having a positive impact on patients' lives.'”

  chief executive of the NHS Race and Health Observatory · Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 27 Aug 2026 · NHS improves genetic testing for minority ethnic cancer patients ↗

• “We need diverse medical representation across all specialities; the longstanding challenges of racial inequity and discrimination must be addressed with clear leadership, focused accountability and evidence-based interventions.”

  chief executive of the NHS Race and Health Observatory · Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 27 Aug 2026 · Black doctors in England four times less likely to get training places than white counterparts ↗

• “They create real fear, trauma and anxiety among our diverse workforce, who continue to provide diligent, compassionate care to patients at some of the most vulnerable moments in their lives. The NHS could not function without the skill, dedication and compassion of healthcare workers from across the world. We strongly condemn these reported racist incidents, and there must be a clear, consistently enforced zero-tolerance approach across the NHS, including in cases where patients display racist or otherwise unacceptable conduct.”

  Chief Executive of the NHS Race and Health Observatory · Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 27 Aug 2026 · NHS radiographers report rise in overt racist abuse by patients ↗

• “People from Black, Asian and ethnic minority backgrounds shouldered a disproportionate burden in the Covid-19 pandemic. I'm delighted that this report, which explicitly focuses on the impact of long Covid on our diverse workforce, presents us with keys insights and first-hand accounts to help the healthcare system to learn and address the need for improved support. There is a clear and urgent need for improved workplace adjustments, tailored support for the workforce, and increased learning and understanding of the impact of long Covid for the wider health and care system. We simply cannot afford for history to repeat itself.”

  Chief Executive of NHS Race and Health Observatory · Long Covid · 27 Aug 2026 · Covid turned into long Covid in more than a quarter of affected staff ↗

• “People from Black, Asian and ethnic minority backgrounds shouldered a disproportionate burden in the COVID-19 pandemic. There is a clear and urgent need for improved workplace adjustments, tailored support for the workforce, and increased learning and understanding of the impact of long COVID for the wider health and care system.”

  chief executive of the NHS Race and Health Observatory · Long Covid · 17 Aug 2026 · 27% of UK health care workers report long COVID symptoms ↗

Recent social activity

• Study to measure cost of racism in healthcare https://t.co/dvAbfg3XR2 via @healthcare

  x.com ↗

• Our latest paper on AI and health inequalities - https://t.co/JEnehuXlK8

  x.com ↗

Where Professor Habib Naqvi has been quoted

1. NHS Study to Measure Cost of Racism in Healthcare by 2027healthcare-management.uk · 4 Oct 2026
2. Health and social care regulators sign up to new anti-racism principleshealthcareleadernews.com · 30 Sept 2026
3. UCL researchers take part in parliamentary roundtable on NHS staff retention | UCL Newsucl.ac.uk · 30 Sept 2026
4. NHS sets first-ever staff standards to tackle racism and violencegov.uk · 30 Sept 2026
5. NHS to study economic cost of racism and race inequalities on healthcarepersonneltoday.com · 30 Sept 2026
6. 1 in 4 infected UK healthcare workers developed long COVID, report showscidrap.umn.edu · 30 Sept 2026
7. Change prostate cancer treatment for black men to avoid ‘epidemic’, NHS urgedtheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
8. NHS staff bearing brunt as ‘ugly’ racism of 70s and 80s returns, says Streetingtheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
9. NHS improves genetic testing for minority ethnic cancer patientstheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
10. Black doctors in England four times less likely to get training places than white counterpartstheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
11. NHS radiographers report rise in overt racist abuse by patientstheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
12. Covid turned into long Covid in more than a quarter of affected staffnursingtimes.net · 27 Aug 2026
13. 27% of UK health care workers report long COVID symptomsmedicalxpress.com · 17 Aug 2026

Related media coverage

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Contact & links

• Xhttps://x.com/DrHNaqvipublished here ↗
• LinkedInhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/prof-habib-naqvi-mbe-6b083217b/
• Staff pagehttps://nhsrho.org/about-us/
• Press office emailcomms@nhsrho.orgpublished here ↗
• Press office phone+44 7485305167published here ↗

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