Carol M. Black

Professor Dame Carol Black DBE MD FRCP MACP FMedSci is the UK National Director for Health and Work, Chairman of the Nuffield Trust, Chairman of the Governance Board of the Centre for Workforce Intelligence, President of the British Lung Foundation, and Pro-Chancellor of the University of Bristol. "Health at work - an independent review of sickness absence"[1] The report she co-chaired (with David Frost (British diplomat) CBE) on behalf of the UK Secretary of State for Work and Pensions was presented to Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in November 2011.

She is a past-President of the Royal College of Physicians, and has recently stepped down as Chairman of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges. The Centre she established at the Royal Free Hospital, London is internationally renowned in the field of connective tissue disease. Since the early-1990s, she has worked at board level in a number of organisations, including the Royal Free Hospital Hampstead NHS Trust, the Health Foundation, the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement, and the Imperial College Healthcare Charity, and recently chaired the U.K. Health Honours Committee.

She is a trustee of the National Portrait Gallery, a member of the Committee for the Queen’s Awards for Voluntary Service, and is on several national committees aiming to improve healthcare. She is a foreign affiliate of the U.S. Institute of Medicine and has been awarded many honorary degrees and fellowships.

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Affiliations

Dr. Black earned four degrees from the University of Bristol,[1] and in June 2007 she received an honorary degree of Doctor of Science from the University of Glasgow. In 2010 she was awarded an Honorary Fellowship by the Royal College of Nursing.[2]

Influence and Atos

Dame Carol Black has called for a new approach to work-related health services, after her review 'Working for a Healthier Tomorrow' found that ill health was costing the country £100bn annually.

Dame Carol Black was commissioned by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to advise on how to improve the health of those in work and reduce the number claiming sickness benefits.

Dame Carol Black questioned the current sick note system, which she said concentrated on what people cannot do instead of what they can. She recommended that doctors' written sick notes should be replaced with an electronic "fit note", explaining what people were able to do even if they were ill.

The Secretary of State for Health does not give a breakdown of the medical conditions of those denied allowances. The Secretary of State for Health seems to agree with the notion that a "few simple physical tests" are sufficient to deny allowances. Atos has confirmed in writing to the Health and Safety Executive that their medical assessment comprises only a "few simple physical tests".

References

  1. ^ University of Bristol Alumni
  2. ^ Rolls of Honour, Royal College of Nursing, 2011. Retrieved 15 August 2011.

External links

Academic offices
Preceded by
Sir Kurt George Alberti
President of the Royal College of Physicians
2002–2005
Succeeded by
Ian Gilmore