Dr Harries will take up the position on 15 July.
The Deputy Chief Medical Officers (DCMO) are senior public
health leaders who support the Chief Medical Officer – the
most senior adviser on health and medicine to the UK
government.
Dr Harries joined Public Health England (PHE) in February
2013 as Regional Director for the South of England and is
also PHE’s Deputy Medical Director. She leads PHE’s support
to the specialised commissioning agenda, having gained direct
commissioning experience when with Public Health Wales.
She has worked in clinical, policy, evaluation and research
roles in many countries including New Zealand, Pakistan,
India, Kenya and the Caribbean.
Dr Harries trained in Public Health in Wales and has held a
number of formal public health appointments.
Dr Harries said:
I feel hugely privileged to be taking up the role of Deputy
Chief Medical Officer and to be able to contribute at a
national level to support health improvement in our
population.
Although my training and earlier career experience has been
in healthcare and health service commissioning and my
recent expertise has been in strategic emergency response,
I am excited to be bringing direct to national public
health policy discussions the critical experiences I have
had as a Chief Officer in 3 different local authorities.
I am very grateful for the opportunities and support I have
received over the last 6 years in Public Health England and
I look forward to working with new colleagues in DHSC and
more widely.
Duncan Selbie, Chief Executive of PHE, said:
Jenny has been with PHE since our inception as the regional
director for the South of England and also more recently as
Deputy Medical Director. She has brought great expertise to
a number of complex national emergencies from Ebola to the
Wiltshire poisonings and has achieved so much in her
work in the South of England.
Jenny has also been a champion within PHE of diversity and
gender balance and I know she will bring a wealth of
experience, knowledge and enthusiasm to her new role.
, Chief Medical
Officer, said:
I would like to congratulate Dr Jenny Harries on her
appointment. Her many accomplishments speak for themselves
and she will bring a wealth of experience and expertise to
this role. I am looking forward to working closely with
her.
Professor Gina Radford has been a fantastic Deputy Chief
Medical Officer and I have thoroughly enjoyed working
alongside her. I would like to thank her for her huge
contribution to public health and her expert support.
