A cabinet reshuffle has seen Prime Minister Gordon Brown appoint new Secretaries of State at the Department of Health (DH) and the Department for Work & Pensions (DWP).
Andy Burnham leaves his post at the Department of Culture Media and Sport to become Health Secretary, succeeding Alan Johnson who is now Home Secretary. He will be supported by Gillian Merron and Mike O’Brien who have been appointed as health ministers, joining existing ministers Ann Keen, Phil Hope and Lord Ara Darzi.
Merron, MP for Lincoln, moves from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office where she served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State while O’Brien, MP for North Warwickshire, leaves his post as Minister of State for Energy. Ben Bradshaw leaves the DH to take over from Burnham as Secretary of State at the Department of Culture, Media and Sport and Dawn Primarolo replaces Beverley Hughes as Children’s Minister.
The new Secretary of State for Work and Pensions is Yvette Cooper. Jim Knight joins the DWP as Minister of State for Employment and Welfare Reform. Angela Eagle joins the department as Minister of State for Pensions and the Ageing Society. Helen Goodman joins as Parliamentary under secretary (Commons). Jonathan Shaw remains as Minister for Disabled People. Lord McKenzie of Luton remains parliamentary under secretary (Lords).
BUPA BOARD APPOINTMENTS
Bupa has appointed Professor Sir John Tooke and Lawrence Churchill to its board as non-executive directors, with effect from 1 July 2009. Churchill (right) has over 20 years’ board level experience in the insurance industry, having previously been chief executive at Zurich Financial Services, UK and International Life, and prior to that, chairman and managing director of Unum, the European arm of the world’s largest disability insurer. He is currently chairman of the Pension Protection Fund and is the senior independent director of Good Energy Group and the Tunbridge Wells Equitable Friendly Society. He is also a member of the board for Actuarial Standards. In addition to joining the Bupa board as a non-executive director, Churchill will become a member of Bupa’s Audit Committee. In addition to his board role, Professor Sir John Tooke will also serve as chairman of Bupa’s Medical Advisory Panel. He is currently dean of the Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry and chairman of the Medical Schools Council and the UK Healthcare Education Advisory Committee. He is also a member of the National Institute for Health Research Advisory Board, the Universities UK Health and Social Care Policy Committee and the NHS Evidence Advisory Board.
JLT LEEDS APPOINTMENT
Jardine Lloyd Thompson Private Clients, a division of JLT Benefit Solutions Ltd (JLT), has appointed Richard Williams as a senior consultant in its Leeds Office. Most recently Williams has worked at Beaumont Robinson Limited in Bradford as a director and financial planner. He plans shortly to achieve his Chartered Financial Planner status and has over two decades of experience in financial services.
OCC HEALTH AWARD FOR PMI HEALTH GROUP’S TREVOR SMITH
Dr Trevor Smith, clinical director of PMI Health Group, has been named winner of the Faculty of Occupational Medicine’s Wilf Howe Memorial Prize 2009. Dr Smith was recognised for his 10-year programme that reduced the incidence of rhinitis and baker’s asthma, one of the oldest recognised occupational diseases, among employees of a large food group. Dr Smith, who has been clinical director at PMI Health Group since November 2004, holds Fellowships of the Faculty of Occupational Medicine and the Royal College of Physicians. He is a past chairman of the Food Industry Medical Association.
WILLIAM RUSSELL CLAIMS MANAGER
International expatriate insurance specialist William Russell has strengthened its claims teams in the UK and Malaysia, with the appointment of Claire Parrott as international claims manager. Parrott, who is now responsible for the overall management of William Russell’s international health insurance claims operation, previously worked for Standard Life Healthcare as customer care team manager and more recently as resources development manager. In that role she was responsible for the recruitment and development of 450 customer care employees.
ASSURANT INTERMEDIARY APPOINTS IRISH BDM
Assurant Intermediary has appointed Roisin Lindsay as business development manager, Ireland. Lindsay’s initial focus will be in Northern Ireland but it is intended that she will extend her business development activities into the Republic of Ireland over the course of the year. Previously, she was business development manager at HBOS Intermediaries, and prior to that was a Belfast branch manager and then a mortgage sales manager for Abbey plc.
PETER LE BEAU AWARDED MBE
Peter Le Beau has been awarded an MBE for services to insurance and to charity in this year’s Queen’s Birthday Honours List.
Health Insurance columnist Le Beau is managing director of Le Beau Visage, an independent consultancy he established after working for Swiss Re as head of UK marketing.
He co-authors the Protection Review and is co-chairman of the Income Protection (IP) Task Force, an awareness-raising organisation which recently published its second white paper.
He is a non-executive director of Red Arc and Pioneer Friendly Society.
Le Beau said: “I feel very privileged to have worked in a sector of the market that does something so valuable. We literally change the fortunes of families beset with hardship. It is often an uphill struggle gaining acknowledgement of this, but something like this makes it all very worthwhile. On top of this I have made very many deep and lasting friendships over the years and thoroughly enjoyed what I have worked on. I have been very blessed.”