Dame Laura LeeSector leader

Biography

Dame Laura Lee DBE is Chief Executive of Maggie's, the cancer support charity, a post she has held since the organisation's founding in 1996. She trained as a registered general nurse and completed her oncology training at St Bartholomew's Hospital in London, later gaining an MSc in Clinical Oncology from the University of Birmingham. While working as a clinical nurse specialist at the Western General Hospital in Edinburgh, she cared for Maggie Keswick Jencks and, following Maggie's death in 1995, took on responsibility for turning her patient's vision of drop-in cancer support centres into reality. Under her leadership, Maggie's has grown from a single Edinburgh centre to a network of more than 27 UK centres built within NHS cancer hospital grounds, recording 338,928 visits in 2025. She is a prominent public voice arguing for the integration of voluntary-sector cancer support into NHS planning, and was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2019 Queen's Birthday Honours for services to people with cancer.

References

1. 1.The Queen in conversation with Dame Laura Lee, CEO of Maggie's | The Royal Family — Confirms current role as Chief Executive of Maggie's, 2025 visit figures, and the charity's 30th anniversary
2. 2.Dame Laura Lee – Salus Global — Confirms DBE awarded in 2019 Queen's Birthday Honours for ensuring cancer patients have emotional support alongside medical care
3. 3.Board of Governors | Maggie's Cancer Caring Centre (Hong Kong) — Confirms nursing qualification (RGN 1987), oncology training at St Bartholomew's, MSc Clinical Oncology Birmingham 1997, RIBA Honorary Fellowship 2009, BATB membership 2016, Honorary Doctorate Queen Margaret University 2016, DBE 2019
4. 4.Three in four cancer patients to survive long term under new plan – GOV.UK — Confirms Dame Laura Lee quoted in press/official releases on the government's 2026 cancer plan, establishing her as a named health policy voice
5. 5.Dame Laura Lee | Contributor | Health Service Journal

Expertise

Cited on

• Hospital discharge / bed-blocking
• Cancer

Stated areas of expertise

• Cancer support and survivorship
• Voluntary sector integration with the NHS
• Psychosocial oncology
• Healthcare environment design
• Cancer care policy
• Neighbourhood health models

Notable achievements

• Appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2019 Queen's Birthday Honours for services to people with cancer. Source ↗
• Appointed Honorary Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 2009 and elected a Member of the British Architectural Trust Board in 2016. Source ↗
• Received an Honorary Doctorate from Queen Margaret University in 2016. Source ↗
• Led Maggie's to its highest-ever annual visit total of 338,928 in 2025, a 4% increase on 2024, with the charity now supporting approximately one in seven new cancer diagnoses across England, Scotland and Wales. Source ↗
• Quoted in the UK Government's February 2026 cancer plan announcement, welcoming new long-term survival targets and calling for practical and emotional support to be embedded at every stage of cancer care. Source ↗
• Contributed to Health Service Journal calling for voluntary organisations to be integrated into the NHS 10-Year Plan, arguing Maggie's drop-in model already delivers the neighbourhood health approach the NHS is seeking to design.

What they’ve said

• “We know that cancer doesn't end when treatment does. If the national cancer strategy is serious about boosting survival it must look very closely at targeted exercise programmes, particularly with the number of people with cancer growing year on year and more than 6 million new cases predicted by 2040.”

  Chief Executive of Maggie's · Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 27 Aug 2026 · Offer cancer patients exercise on NHS, major charity urges ↗

• “Group nutritional workshops at Maggie's help people with cancer identify fact from fiction, encouraging them to follow a healthy, balanced diet but ultimately empowering them to make the best decisions for their individual needs.”

  Chief Executive of Maggie's cancer charity · Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 27 Aug 2026 · Cancer charity to expand nutrition lessons after trial cut NHS waiting lists ↗

• “These buildings are a statement of care.”

  chief executive of Maggie's Centres, oncology nurse · Cancer · 27 Aug 2026 · ‘A space of their own’: how cancer centres designed by top architects can offer hope ↗

• “She told Maggie's chief executive, Dame Laura Lee, who was filmed in conversation with Camilla at Clarence House.”

  Chief Executive of Maggie's · Cancer · 27 Aug 2026 ·

Source references

1. Offer cancer patients exercise on NHS, major charity urgestheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
2. Cancer charity to expand nutrition lessons after trial cut NHS waiting liststheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
3. ‘A space of their own’: how cancer centres designed by top architects can offer hopetheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
4. Camilla found it ‘difficult’ keeping king’s cancer diagnosis private before announcementtheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026

Contact & links

• Websitehttps://www.maggies.orgpublished here ↗
• Staff pagehttps://www.hsj.co.uk/dame-laura-lee/3009081.bio
• LinkedInhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/laura-lee-dbe-659366278/

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