Nigel Crisp is an independent member of the House of Lords and co-chairs the All Party Parliamentary Group on Global Health. He works and writes extensively on global health. A short biography is available at the bottom of this page.

New publications

Triple Impact – How developing nursing will improve health, promote gender equality and support economic growth

This new report from the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Global Health argues that:

• Universal Health Coverage will not be achieved globally unless there is a big increase in the number of nurses and they are enabled to work to their full potential
• Strengthening nursing will have the Triple Impact of improving health, promoting gender equality and supporting economic growth

Published by the APPG on 17th October 2016. Read Full report.

Manifesto for a healthy and health-creating society

Brexit and the troubled state of the NHS call for rethinking the UK's approach to health. This Lancet article sets out a positive vision for health and the economy. The manifesto is written by some of the top UK clinicians as well as scientists and social entrepeneurs including the founder of the Big Issue and the leaders of Turning Point, Well North and the New NHS Alliance. Published in the Lancet on October 10th 2016. Read the article.

One World Health – an overview of global health

This book is about one world health - not first or second or third world health - and the issues that affect the health of us all wherever we live.

There are enormous differences in health needs and resources both between and within countries. One World Health addresses in particular the needs of the poorest countries and the poorest people in every society – who face the greatest burdens of disease and disadvantage – but it also takes account of developments in the richest countries.

Its central thesis is that we need to understand better the things that unite and divide us: increasing interdependence, shared opportunities and the need for shared action on the one hand – and shared risks, vulnerabilities, conflicts and massive inequalities on the other.

Published by CRC Press in June 2016. More details

Everyone has a role in building a health creating society

The World Health Organisation says that Modern societies actively market unhealthy lifestyles. Nigel Crisp asks what if we could reverse this and all parts of society - employers, designers and educators as well as patients and health workers - played their part in building a health-creating society. He argues that there has been too much emphasis on markets and economic mechanisms in recent years. It is time to find health solutions to health problems.

Available at the BMJ website.

Old Problems, New Solutions - improving acute psychiatric care for adults in England

This Report argues that mental health patients should have the same rapid access to high quality care as patients with physical health needs. It proposes the introduction of firm targets for improvement combined with new approaches to quality, data management, innovation and investment.

The report of the Commission chaired by Nigel Crisp is available at http://www.caapc.info/

Africa and Global Health

Nigel Crisp has spent much of the last 10 years working in Africa and India mainly on human resources, supporting UK professionals to train health workers in these countries and developing partnerships between UK and other organisations. He is particularly interested in the scope for mutual learning and co-development - themes that are developed in many of his writings.

He co-chairs the Zambia UK Health Workforce Alliance, chaired Sightsavers International from 2007 to 2015 and is a member of the Advisory Board of the African Centre for Health and Social Transformation (ACHEST).

African Health Leaders – making change and claiming the future Edited with Francis Omaswa.

Most books on health in Africa are written by Europeans and Americans. This redresses the balance and contains accounts from 23 African health leaders – 13 men and 10 women from 14 countries and 3 generations – about how they have let change in their own countries. It was published by OUP on September 15th 2014. More details.

Global Supply of Health Professionals Written with Lincoln Chen

This article examines the supply and demand for health professionals and the global forces that are shaping both.

Available at New England Journal of Medicine, 370;10 March 6 2014.

Turning the world upside down - the search for global health in the 21st Century

This was one of the first books to draw attention to the potential for “reverse innovation” in health. It describes what richer countries can learn about health from low and middle income countries - without richer countries' resources and vested interests many countries are innovating and developing effective new approaches.

Click here for more details of the book described as “inspirational”, “a decade before its time”, “providing a fresh perspective on one of the crucial topics of our times” and “bursting the bubble of western arrogance”. Order at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

Global Health Partnerships – the UK’s contribution to health in developing countries

The 2007 report for the UK Prime Minister, set out principles of mutual learning and partnership for UK organisations and has subsequently influenced Government Policy.

Available at the National Archives website.

Scaling up, Saving Lives

The 2008 report of an international Task Force on increasing the education and training of health workers globally was chaired by Nigel crisp jointly with Commissioner Bience Gawanas of the African Union. It sets out practical ways to increase the training of health workers in developing countries.

Available at: Executive Sumary (external link) or Full report (external link)

Europe and the UK

Nigel Crisp has recently become involved again in European and UK health issues beginning with a review of the Portuguese health system in 2013 and 2014 and following this up with the review of acute adult mental health services in England described in new publications above.

The Future for Health – everyone has a role to play

The report of the Gulbenkian Commission on the Future of Health in Portugal chaired by Nigel Crisp. This calls for a new Compact for Health in Portugal with the focus on action by citizens and society and a transition from today’s hospital-centred and illness based system where things are done to or for a patient to a person-centred and health based one where citizens are partners in health promotion and health care.

Published 23rd September 2014 and available at the Gulbenkian website

24 Hours to Save the NHS - the Chief Executive's account of reform 2000 to 2006

This book describes the reforms undertaken by the Blair Government and draws out the lessons for the future. Nigel Crisp argues that further radical reform is needed if the NHS is to remain affordable and sustainable and that other countries can learn from the experience in England.

Click here for more details of the book or buy at OUP

All Party Parliamentary Group on Global Health

Nigel Crisp co-chairs the APPG on Global Health with Meg Hillier MP to 2015 and Dan Poulter MP subsequently. Each year it undertakes reviews of major global health topics and makes recommendations to the UK Government and Parliament.

In 2016 it is undertaking a review of nursing globally.

The UK’s Contribution to Health Globally

This report describes the UK's footprint on health globally across four sectors: academia, government, commerce and not-for-profit. It shows that the UK plays a leading role in each sector: its global contribution second only to the US, which it surpasses in some areas.

Earlier reports address

• Mental Health for Sustainable Development
• Patient Empowerment: for better quality, more sustainable health services globally
• Improving Health at Home and Abroad: how overseas volunteering from the NHS benefits the UK and the world
• All the Talents: how new roles and better teamwork release potential and improve health services

All available at http://www.appg-globalhealth.org.uk/reports/4556656050

Biography

Nigel Crisp is an independent crossbench member of the House of Lords where he co-chairs the All Party Parliamentary Group on Global Health. He works and writes extensively on global health.

Lord Crisp chairs Kings Partners Global Health Advisory Board and the Zambia UK Health Workforce Alliance. He is a Senior Fellow at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, an Honorary Professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and a Foreign Associate of the US National Academy of Medicine. He was formerly a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Harvard School of Public Health and Regent’s Lecturer at Berkeley.

His publications on global health include Turning the world upside down - the search for global health in the 21st Century; Global Health Partnerships; and, edited with Francis Omaswa, African Health Leaders – making change and claiming the future. He described his time as Chief Executive of the NHS in 24 Hours to Save the NHS – the Chief Executive’s account of reform 2000 – 2006.

He was previously Permanent Secretary of the UK Department of Health and Chief Executive of the English NHS – the biggest health organisation in the world with 1.3 million employees – where he led major reforms between 2000 and 2006.

A Cambridge philosophy graduate, he worked in community development and industry before joining the NHS in 1986. He has worked in mental health as well as acute services and was from 1993 to 1997 the Chief Executive of the Oxford Radcliffe Hospital NHS Trust, one of the UK’s leading academic medical centres.