Peter West: key facts
- Kind of voice
- Academic
- Role
- Freelance Health Economist and Health Services Researcher
- Organisation based in
- Esher and Walton
- Quoted on
- Hospital discharge / bed-blocking
- Tracked press citations
- 1
- Most recently quoted
- 27 Aug 2026
Who Peter West is
Dr Peter West is a health economist and health services researcher who works as a freelance consultant to pharmaceutical firms and NHS bodies. He has over 40 years of experience working for consulting groups, universities, and government agencies across the UK, Ireland, Australia, the USA, and in developing countries on cost-effectiveness studies in health economics. He has served two terms as a non-executive director of NHS trusts, and joined the board of Princess Alice Hospice in 2014. He has authored three books and many research papers and reports on health services economics and policy. He is a regular commentator in the Health Service Journal, where he has argued for independent patient and public voice on primary care network governing bodies and critiqued the scoping of public health programme evaluations.
“A rating for an entire hospital based on 30 metrics is no use to me if I need elective surgery. There can be five to 20 surgical departments in a large hospital. Outcomes for elective surgery will vary between them and between individual surgeons.”
References for this biography
- 1.Dr Peter West | Contributor | Health Service Journal — Establishes his role as a health economist, health services researcher, freelance consultant to pharma and NHS, non-executive NHS trust history, and authorship of three books and research papers.
- 2.Peter West – Board Member at Princess Alice Hospice | The Org — Confirms over 40 years' experience across UK, Ireland, Australia and USA in cost-effectiveness studies, two NHS trust NED terms, and board membership at Princess Alice Hospice from 2014.
- 3.Peter West | The Nuffield Trust — Lists him as Health Economist at Princess Alice Hospice and credits a 1998 report on the history of hospitals in the UK.
- 4.Understanding the National Health Service Reforms: The Creation of Incentives? – AbeBooks — Evidences one of his authored books on NHS reforms and market-style incentives, associated with United Medical Schools of Guy's and St Thomas'.
- 5.Princess Alice Hospice 2024 Trustees' Annual Report — Confirms Princess Alice Hospice registered office address (West End Lane, Esher, Surrey KT10 8NA) and governance structure.
Notable achievements
- Authored three books on health services economics and policy, including a study of NHS reforms and market-style incentives based on his work at the United Medical Schools of Guy's and St Thomas'. Source ↗
- Served two terms as a non-executive director of NHS trusts, contributing governance experience across the health sector. Source ↗
- Joined the Board of Princess Alice Hospice in 2014, bringing health economics expertise to the governance of an Outstanding-rated hospice charity. Source ↗
- Co-authored a Nuffield Trust report on the history of hospitals in the UK and the impact of specialisation and the growth of cottage hospitals (1998). Source ↗
Where Peter West has been quoted
- Hospital league tables will harm, not heal, the NHS | Letterstheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
Related media coverage
Recent UK press coverage of their topics — not necessarily citing them directly.
Contact & links
- Staff pagehttps://www.hsj.co.uk/dr-peter-west/3007915.bio
- Staff pagehttps://www.nuffieldtrust.org.uk/person/peter-west
Organisational contact points only, each taken from a page the organisation publishes itself. No personal or direct contact details are held or shown.
Professors, researchers and think-tank analysts quoted on the strength of their research rather than a clinical role. 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.