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UKProf Sir Mike Richards — no licensed photograph is available, so the regulator plate is shown instead.

Regulator

Prof Sir Mike Richards

Chair, UK National Screening Committee

UK National Screening Committee is based in Cities of London and Westminster — the organisation’s base, not a personal address.

Press citations

8

Topics

4

Dementia

Last quoted

Sept 2026

first cited Aug 2026

Prof Sir Mike Richards: key facts

Kind of voice
Regulator
Role
Chair, UK National Screening Committee
Organisation
UK National Screening Committee
Organisation based in
Cities of London and Westminster
Quoted on
Dementia, Adult social care & reform, Hospital discharge / bed-blocking, Cancer
Tracked press citations
8
Most recently quoted
30 Sept 2026
First quoted
27 Aug 2026

Who Prof Sir Mike Richards is

Professor Sir Mike Richards CBE MD FRCP is a medical oncologist who served as a consultant oncologist and Professor of Palliative Medicine at Guy's and St Thomas' Hospitals before becoming England's first National Cancer Director at the Department of Health in 1999, a post he held for 13 years. He then became the Care Quality Commission's first Chief Inspector of Hospitals in 2013, leading a new national inspection and rating regime for hospitals, mental health and community services. Since retiring from CQC in 2017, he led two major NHS England reviews—on adult screening services (2019) and diagnostic services (2020)—the latter recommending the network of community diagnostic centres now being established across England. In April 2022 he was appointed Chair of the UK National Screening Committee, the independent scientific committee that advises ministers and the NHS in all four UK countries on population and targeted screening programmes. He was appointed Chair of the Care Quality Commission in April 2025 but resigned from that role in February 2026. His work on cancer outcomes was recognised with a CBE in 2001 and a knighthood in 2010.

“I do believe that the conditions are right for the same revolution in dementia that we have seen for cancer.”

References for this biography

  1. 1.Professor Sir Mike Richards CBE MD FRCP – Care Quality Commission board biography — Current and past roles including NSC chair, CQC chief inspector, National Cancer Director, diagnostic reviews, and community diagnostic centres
  2. 2.Professor Sir Mike Richards announced as new UK National Screening Committee chair – UK NSC blog — Appointment as UK NSC chair in April 2022, expanded remit of the committee, CBE and knighthood
  3. 3.UK NSC blog – Professor Sir Mike Richards author page — Career summary including National Cancer Director, CQC Chief Inspector, NHS England diagnostic and screening reviews
  4. 4.CQC welcomes Secretary of State's decision to appoint Professor Sir Mike Richards as Chair — Appointment as CQC Chair from 1 April 2025 following Health and Social Care Select Committee confirmation
  5. 5.Professor Sir Mike Richards steps down as CQC Chair – Care Quality Commission — Resignation as CQC Chair announced 6 February 2026, formally leaving 31 May 2026
  6. 6.Diagnostics: Recovery and Renewal – NHS England independent review — Richards' 2020 NHS diagnostic services review, basis for community diagnostic centres programme
  7. 7.UK National Screening Committee – GOV.UK — Organisation website; Richards listed as Chair; DHSC secretariat address (39 Victoria Street, London SW1H 0EU)

Notable achievements

  • Led the 2020 independent review of NHS diagnostic services ('Diagnostics: Recovery and Renewal'), which recommended the creation of community diagnostic centres; around 170 have since been established. Source ↗
  • Appointed as England's first National Cancer Director in 1999 and led development of the NHS Cancer Plan (2000), the Cancer Reform Strategy (2007) and Improving Outcomes: A Strategy for Cancer (2011). Source ↗
  • Became the Care Quality Commission's first Chief Inspector of Hospitals in July 2013, developing a new approach to inspecting and rating hospitals, mental health, community and ambulance services. Source ↗
  • Appointed Chair of the UK National Screening Committee in April 2022, overseeing an expansion of its remit to include targeted and stratified screening in addition to population screening. Source ↗

What Prof Sir Mike Richards has said

Where Prof Sir Mike Richards has been quoted

  1. NHS ‘must treat dementia like cancer’telegraph.co.uk · 30 Sept 2026
  2. Experts urge dementia be given ‘same ambition’ as cancer carecareappointments.com · 29 Sept 2026
  3. Andy Burnham urged to set dementia waiting-time targetbbc.co.uk · 29 Sept 2026
  4. Call for 'cancer-style' transformation in dementia care 'stuck in last century'thecarehomeenvironment.com · 29 Sept 2026
  5. Call for ‘cancer-style revolution’ for dementia care that is ‘stuck in the 20th century’.carehomeprofessional.com · 29 Sept 2026
  6. Care Quality Commission chief quits over maternity inquiry into NHS trust he ledtheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
  7. Most UK men should not be offered prostate cancer screening, experts saytheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
  8. The right’s culture war over prostate cancer screening is damaging trust in medicine | Polly Toynbeetheguardian.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.

Named officials of regulators, arms-length bodies and public agencies such as the CQC, NHS England or a local authority association. 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.