Prof Julian Redhead: key facts
- Kind of voice
- Clinician
- Role
- Trust-level Chief Executive; National Clinical Director for Urgent and Emergency Care
- Organisation based in
- Cities of London and Westminster
- Quoted on
- Hospital discharge / bed-blocking
- Tracked press citations
- 3
- Most recently quoted
- 8 Sept 2026
- First quoted
- 27 Aug 2026
Who Prof Julian Redhead is
Professor Julian Redhead is a consultant in emergency medicine and was appointed National Clinical Director for Urgent and Emergency Care at NHS England in September 2021, with responsibility for improving 999, 111, A&E and other urgent care services. He joined Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust as a consultant in emergency medicine in 2004, became chief of service for emergency medicine in 2008, and served as its Medical Director before being appointed trust-level Chief Executive from 1 April 2026 on an interim basis. He has given oral evidence to the House of Commons Health and Social Care Committee on pressures in urgent and emergency care, and has publicly argued that England runs its hospitals at dangerously high occupancy levels and has among the lowest number of beds in OECD comparator countries. He has also held the role of Medical Director for the North West London Integrated Care Partnership and serves as a Care Quality Commission specialist adviser.
“Today's numbers confirm our deepest concerns. The health service is bracing for an unprecedented flu wave this winter. Cases are incredibly high for this time of year and there is no peak in sight yet.”
References for this biography
- 1.New NHS clinical leadership to support post-COVID challenges – NHS England — Confirms appointment as National Clinical Director for Urgent and Emergency Care and his concurrent role as Medical Director and emergency medicine consultant at Imperial College Healthcare
- 2.Trust-level chief executive appointed for Imperial College Healthcare – Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust — Confirms appointment as trust-level Chief Executive from 1 April 2026, career history at the Trust, and ongoing NHS England national clinical director role
- 3.Health and Social Care Committee Oral evidence: The situation in accident and emergency – UK Parliament — Confirms appearance as NHS England National Clinical Director for Urgent and Emergency Care giving evidence to Parliament on A&E pressures and bed capacity
- 4.NHS England response to PAC report on access to urgent and emergency care – NHS England — Confirms his role title and documents his public statements on A&E pressures, social care impact and winter planning measures
- 5.Professor Julian Redhead – Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust consultant directory — Organisational staff page confirming his role as consultant in emergency medicine, CQC specialist adviser, and trustee of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents
Notable achievements
- Appointed National Clinical Director for Urgent and Emergency Care at NHS England in September 2021, taking responsibility for national improvement of 999, 111 and A&E services. Source ↗
- Appointed trust-level Chief Executive of Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust from 1 April 2026, following a group-wide competitive process. Source ↗
- Gave oral evidence to the House of Commons Health and Social Care Committee on the situation in accident and emergency care. Source ↗
What Prof Julian Redhead has said
“The figures confirmed the NHS's 'deepest concerns' that the health service was bracing for an unprecedented flu wave this winter, with cases 'incredibly high for this time of year and there is no peak in sight yet'.”
national director for urgent and emergency care · Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 27 Aug 2026 · NHS braces for ‘unprecedented flu wave’ as hospitalised cases in England rise ↗
“Early and efficient planning is key to managing busy periods like winter, and new tech like the AI tool has the potential to make a real difference to the way we manage care for patients.”
national clinical director for urgent and emergency care at NHS England · Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 27 Aug 2026 · AI being used to help cut A&E waiting times in England this winter ↗
Where Prof Julian Redhead has been quoted
- NHS faces ‘tidal wave’ of flu as RCN reiterates dangers of corridor carenursingtimes.net · 8 Sept 2026
- NHS braces for ‘unprecedented flu wave’ as hospitalised cases in England risetheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
- AI being used to help cut A&E waiting times in England this wintertheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
Related media coverage
Recent UK press coverage of their topics — not necessarily citing them directly.
Contact & links
Organisational contact points only, each taken from a page the organisation publishes itself. No personal or direct contact details are held or shown.
Doctors, nurses, allied health professionals and other registered clinicians quoted in a clinical capacity. Citations are counted by an automated scan of UK press coverage and may be incomplete. Roles, biographies and contact details are researched and human-reviewed before they appear here; anything not yet reviewed is simply absent rather than shown unverified. This profile was last updated on 5 Oct 2026. See the methodology for how this page is built, or email contact@bridgeheadcommunications.com to correct anything on it.