Sarah Mitchell appointed Interim National Clinical Director for Palliative and End-of-Life Care for NHS England

Sarah Mitchell, Associate Clinical Professor of Palliative Care at the University of Leeds, has been appointed Interim National Clinical Director for Palliative and End-of-Life Care for NHS England. Sarah also works as a GP in Sheffield and was the SAPC / RCGP Yvonne Carter Award winner in 2020.

Sarah has held leadership roles in palliative care with local, regional, and national NHS commissioning and policy organisations for over ten years, alongside research and clinical roles. Her priorities include promoting and improving palliative care in primary care and community settings, and effective integration of services to address inequalities. In the National Clinical Director role, she will provide strategic leadership to drive transformation of services, and clinical advice to support the development of policy and parliamentary accountability. She will Co-Chair the National Ambitions Partnership for Palliative and End-of-Life Care.

Sarah is committed to policy relevant research to improve palliative and end-of-life care for people of all ages, with all conditions, through integration and learning from patient experience. In her new role, she aims to ensure that robust evidence informs future policy and commissioning. She has been a member of the Cochrane Pain, Palliative and Supportive Care Editorial Board and the Expert Advisory Committee for the NICE Quality Standard Update: End of Life Care for Adults [QS13]. As co-chair of the SAPC Palliative Care Special Interest Group (with Dr Lucy Pocock, University of Bristol), Sarah aims to increase primary palliative care capacity and leadership.  

Email: S.Mitchell2@leeds.ac.uk

Profile: https://medicinehealth.leeds.ac.uk/medicine/staff/11304/dr-sarah-mitchell