Kibasi brings more than two decades of healthcare sector experience into his new role, where he will provide expert advice and support to health and social care secretary Wes Streeting's reform agenda, including drafting the 10-Year Health plan.
Kibasi is joint chair of three mental health and community NHS trusts, leading the charge to improve their quality of care and to help keep patients well in the community, having joined the board of Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust in 2016.
In addition, Kibasi led the drafting and directed the analysis for Lord Ara Darzi's independent investigation into the state of the NHS, which reported in September 2024. Early in his career, he worked at the Department of Health as a senior policy advisor to Lord Darzi for his landmark 2008 review of the NHS High Quality Care for All.
Kibasi said: ‘The independent investigation was a devastating diagnosis of the problems that patients, the public, and hard-working NHS staff experience every day.
‘Since then, there has been a remarkable process of public, staff and expert engagement on the 10 Year Health Plan. There is now huge energy and expectation about the vision that it will set for both the service and for the health of the nation.'
DHSC has also added Baroness Camilla Cavendish, Naomi Eisenstadt and Phil Jordan to its board. The department says their experience and expertise across the political divide and both the public and private sector ‘will be vital in supporting the government's key missions to drive down waiting lists and reform the NHS as part of the 10 Year Health Plan'.
Baroness Cavendish is best known for her time as head of the Number 10 Policy Unit under former prime minister David Cameron. Eisenstadt was the first director of Sure Start, while Jordan has had a long career in the private sector, including top roles at Sainsbury's, Telefónica and Vodafone.
Wes Streeting, secretary of state for health and social care, said: ‘I am drawing on people of different political persuasions, with public and private sector experience, to help us turn around the NHS, make it fit for the future, and reform social care.
‘The NHS is one of the biggest organisations in the world, and building a national care service is a generational ambition. We should be competing with global businesses to recruit the best and the brightest to our cause.'
He added: ‘Their combined expertise in social policy and technology, deep understanding of healthcare and commitment to pragmatism over ideology will be invaluable as we fix our broken NHS.
‘If there are other people out there with the skills, experience and drive to transform the treatment and care of millions of people, then we want your help building our 10 Year Health Plan.'
