Speaker / Rt Hon Patricia Hewitt

Rt Hon Patricia Hewitt has been independent chair of the NHS Norfolk and Waveney Integrated Care Board since July 2022 and was previously chair of the Norfolk & Waveney ICS/STP. From 2005 to 2007, Patricia was Secretary of State for Health in the Blair Government, introducing the smoke-free legislation, establishing the NHS Choices website (www.nhs.uk) and creating a ground-breaking public consultation - Our Health, Our Care, Our Say - that anticipated many of the themes of the Five Year Forward View.

Patricia has a long-standing interest in digital transformation of healthcare and until 2021 was a member of the advisory board of the digital healthcare firm, Medefer.  As chair of the UK India Business Council from 2010 to 2018, she helped build partnerships between the two countries in healthcare and other sectors, and retains her interest in India as chair of the Oxford India Centre for Sustainable Development.

Australian by birth, Patricia came to Britain as a student, graduating from Newnham College, Cambridge. She lives in Norfolk; in her spare time, she is an enthusiastic gardener, active in her village community and loves walking and running (very slowly). She has a daughter in London and a son in Sydney.