Sarah WoolnoughThink tank

Biography

Sarah Woolnough is the Chief Executive of The King's Fund, an independent charity working to improve health and care in England, having taken up the post in December 2023. Since joining, she has overseen the development of a new long-term strategy, brand and operating model for the organisation. Previously she was Chief Executive of Asthma + Lung UK, having overseen the merger of Asthma UK and the British Lung Foundation, and before that spent more than 15 years at Cancer Research UK in senior policy and executive board roles, including a secondment to the Department of Health in 2011 to co-write the National Cancer Strategy. She has a background in policy and influencing, with degrees in government and an MSc in comparative politics. She is publicly known for calling for fundamental social care reform, arguing that the NHS cannot be fixed without also fixing social care, and for setting out tests for the NHS Modernisation Bill.

References

1. 1.Sarah Woolnough | The King's Fund — Current role, organisation, background at Cancer Research UK, Asthma + Lung UK, DH secondment, educational background, trusteeships and coalition roles
2. 2.Sarah Woolnough Announced As New Chief Executive | The King's Fund — Appointment as Chief Executive of The King's Fund, succession from Richard Murray, career history spanning national charities, civil service and parliament
3. 3.The King's Fund responds to the Prime Minister's comments that the NHS 'will collapse' without adult social care reform — Establishes her as a named public voice on social care reform and the relationship between social care and NHS sustainability
4. 4.Press Centre | The King's Fund — Organisational press contact details (email and phone)
5. 5.

Expertise

Cited on

• Hospital discharge / bed-blocking

Stated areas of expertise

• NHS reform and modernisation
• Adult social care reform
• Health inequalities
• Primary and community care
• Health policy analysis
• Public health and prevention

Notable achievements

• Overseen the merger of Asthma UK and the British Lung Foundation to form Asthma + Lung UK, developing a new strategy, brand and operating model as its first Chief Executive Source ↗
• Seconded to the Department of Health in 2011 to write the National Cancer Strategy alongside Professor Sir Mike Richards, the National Cancer Director Source ↗
• Since joining The King's Fund in late 2023, led development of a new long-term strategy, brand and operating model for the organisation Source ↗
• Chaired the Healthy Air Coalition, a collective of leading health and environmental charities campaigning for cleaner air, and served as co-chair of the National Respiratory Delivery Board Source ↗

What they’ve said

• “Health service leaders are telling us that unless we act on prevention, we may not have an NHS to fix. There is a very real risk that it will collapse under the weight of avoidable illnesses such as heart disease, diabetes and other illnesses that are intimately associated with poor diet, drinking and smoking, and also largely preventable, unless the government acts boldly on these huge threats to the public's health.”

  Chief Executive of the King's Fund · Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 27 Aug 2026 · Food industry lobbying is leading Labour to drop public health plans, experts say ↗

• “Rising flu waves and industrial action are all adding strain to a system which is already struggling to deliver timely care for patients.”

  chief executive of the King's Fund · Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 27 Aug 2026 · NHS braces for ‘unprecedented flu wave’ as hospitalised cases in England rise ↗

• “The system as it stands will not meet the cancer treatment standards by 2029 unless there is a big step-change. The government will need to show it has the answers if it is to achieve its aim of transforming cancer treatment, boosting survival rates and improving quality of life.”

  chief executive of the King's Fund health thinktank and a former executive director of CRUK · Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 27 Aug 2026 · Three-quarters of cancer patients in England will survive by 2035, government pledges ↗

Source references

1. Food industry lobbying is leading Labour to drop public health plans, experts saytheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
2. NHS braces for ‘unprecedented flu wave’ as hospitalised cases in England risetheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
3. Three-quarters of cancer patients in England will survive by 2035, government pledgestheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
4. Hundreds of thousands of NHS staff in England attacked and harassed, survey showstheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
5. Waiting times for hospital treatment in England hit key target, figures show

Contact & links

• Staff pagehttps://www.kingsfund.org.uk/about-us/our-people/sarah-woolnough
• Xhttps://x.com/swoolnoughpublished here ↗
• LinkedInhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-woolnough-866b9b13/
• Press office emailmedia@kingsfund.org.ukpublished here ↗
• Press office phone020 7307 2585published here ↗

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