With the new NHS 10-Year Plan now published, attention turns from ambition to action. How realistic is the roadmap? What will it take to deliver meaningful change in the face of economic constraints, rising demand, and deep-rooted structural pressures?
In this year’s OHE Annual Lecture, Anita Charlesworth — one of the UK’s most respected health economists and policy leaders — offers a critical examination of the NHS’ new strategy and what it will take to turn its vision into reality. With deep expertise at the intersection of economics, policy, and public service delivery, she will explore the true scale of the task ahead: where investment is most needed, what reform should look like, and what political and institutional leadership will be required over the coming decade.
From productivity and capital to sustainability and prevention, the lecture will unpack the economic realities shaping the future of the NHS, and ask whether the choices being made today are bold enough to meet the challenges of the next ten years.
As the UK enters a pivotal phase for health system reform, this lecture provides an essential moment for reflection, scrutiny, and evidence-led dialogue.
About our Keynote Speaker
Anita Charlesworth is co-chair of the Health Foundation’s Commission on NHS productivity and acting chair of North-West London NHS Integrated Care Board.
Anita is a council member of the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), a member of DWP’s Labour Market Advisory Board, the Health and Social Care Select Committee’s expert panel and the Office of Budget Responsibility (OBR) Advisory Panel.
Anita is a member of the Council of the Royal Economic Society and University of Bath, Institute for Policy Research Advisory Board. She is Honorary Professor in the College of Social Sciences at the Health Services Management Centre (HSMC) at the University of Birmingham and at the Centre for Health Economics at the University of York.
At the Health Foundation, Anita founded the REAL Centre and was director of research for 8 years. She has a background in government and public policy. She had roles as Chief Analyst at DCMS, Director of Public Spending at the Treasury and worked as an Economic Advisor at the Department of Health. Anita was specialist advisor to the House of Lords’ Select Committee on the long-term sustainability of the NHS in 2016/17.
Anita has an MSc in Health Economics from the University of York. She is a Trustee for Tommy’s, the baby charity, and Health Data Research UK and chair of the Office of Health Economics. She was awarded a CBE in the Queen’s 2017 Birthday Honours List for Services to Economics and Health Policy. In 2024 Anita was made a fellow of the Academy of Social Science.
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OHE Annual Lecture Series
As part of our charitable purpose to educate and inform health policymakers, the Annual Lecture is our opportunity to highlight urgent and important issues facing health systems around the world and to raise awareness of research and evidence that can contribute to addressing these challenges. Throughout our long history we’ve had the privilege of hosting some of the greatest thinkers in the economics of health and health care.
