1. Peter Commins’ Career Summary
1. 25 years of board level CFO and corporate leadership experience
spanning
a. A trading fund responsible for medicines and devices’ product
regulation for the UK, the supply of 95% of the globe’s biological
medicine standards and the provision of data for research and
interventional clinical trials using NHS data (CPRD).
b. A large London Foundation Trust providing acute and specialist
services.
c. The executive agency responsible for managing all the criminal and
civil courts England and Wales.
d. Two central London health authorities.
2. In addition
a. One of three directors of the largest independent HIV service
provider in Europe through the peak of the pandemic during the
1990s.
b. A Non-executive director of a primary care trust including chairman
of its Risk and Audit Committee.
3. During the last ten years of my career I compromised on my chief
executive aspirations due to family caring responsibilities, but have had
extensive periods as acting chief executive of the above Foundation Trust
and Europe’s largest medicines’ regulator.
Chief Operating Officer, Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory
Agency, 2006 to 2016.
When I arrived the organisation had £2m in the bank, an in-year operating
deficit of £8m and current liabilities of £30m. When I left ten years later it had
just paid a £100m “super dividend” to the Department of Health and still had
£150m in the bank, after growing its annual revenue threefold through new
sales’ growth.
This role included responsibility for human resources, digital and IT, finance
and the development of CPRD, the linked data service which enables NHS
real world data to be used in observational research and clinical trials. I also
routinely deputised across all of the chief executive’s responsibilities including
chairing the agency’s executive board, delivering chief executive all staff
meeting briefing and being one of two executive members on the agency’s
unitary board.
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2. I led the office relocation project which introduced modern design and ways of
working in the agency’s new office environment.
I led the merger process between MHRA and the National Biological
Standards and Control organisation (NIBSC).
I led all of the resource allocation groups, including its digital investment
process and Operational Transformation programme.
Finance Director, Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust, including 4 months
as acting Chief Executive, 2002 to 2006
I led the trust’s financial recovery, converting a £18m deficit into a cumulative
surplus four years later, sufficient to enable a successful Foundation Trust
application. I was successful in this task because I aligned myself with service
delivery and could reach agreement from the perspective of credibility and
strong relationships with clinical colleagues.
Finance Director, Court Service Executive Agency, responsible for all of
the criminal and civil courts in England and Wales, 1999 to 2002.
I transformed the profile and influence of the finance function, by taking a lead
role in its most significant operational challenges, and in attracting significant
resources during a particularly high profile period in its history (“Tough on
crime etc”).
It was a difficult decision to leave a well resourced and secure position but I
felt a strong drive to work in an operational health role. I donated bone
marrow through a Royal Free service at this time and the CFO opportunity
arose soon after.
Non Executive Director and Chairman of Audit Committee, Harrow
Primary Care Trust, 2002.
Combined with my London Lighthouse experience I feel that I have gained a
valuable perspective of the distinct needs of non-executive directors, and the
importance of strong, constructive challenge.
Finance Director, Brent and Harrow Health Authority, 1992 to 1999.
I was fortunate to be in this health authority from its creation and, by ensuring
that it remained one of the few parts of London not experiencing financial
difficulties, I was able to develop an interest in public health and seeking to
reduce the impact of the wider determinants of ill health.
I took a particular interest in seeking to change the use of resources across
the two boroughs and I focussed my role on the challenge of balancing justice
to individuals with expensive conditions, with the responsibility to provide
comprehensive services to the wider population. This period included several
controversial public consultations, often in very hostile public meetings.
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3. Council Member and Finance Director, London Lighthouse HIV charity,
1993 to 1999, unsalaried, one of three company directors.
This role was as challenging as any of my statutory positions despite the
organisation’s smaller scale and its part time nature. London Lighthouse was
the primary hospice service provider during the peak years of the pandemic.
When combination drug treatments became available government financial
support was immediately withdrawn leaving the organisation to work through
a cash flow crisis.
This role involved the co-founders and me seeking support for a rescue
package which eventually saw it fundamentally review its services, sell many
of its assets and change its mission.
This experience caused me to reflect on the relative comfort of being a public
sector organisation, and the danger of hubris.
Finance Director, Riverside Health Authority, 1991 to 1993.
This was the largest health authority in England at the time, responsible for
four teaching hospitals and a major site reorganisation. Prior to this I spent 12
years in various financial management posts in the NHS, including 3 years on
the national training scheme.
I had an unusual entry to the NHS through two years as a hospital porter.
Main qualifications and personal development
Prime Minister’s Top Management Programme for Senior Civil Servants.
Kings’ Fund NHS Chief Executive Programme.
CIPFA, national prize winner ,1982.
MBA, Henley Management College, 1993.
MA, Financial Management, Leeds University, 2002.
I studied for A levels whilst working as a hospital porter and studied for a BA
in economics and law at North London Polytechnic, 1976 to 1979.
Recent professional development
Advanced financial modelling.
Contact details
Peter.commins@btinternet.com
020 8866 9428
07763464718
Location, Pinner, Middlesex
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