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Judith Smith

Professor of Health Policy and Management, University of Birmingham

Judith is a highly experienced and widely published health services researcher and policy analyst. She took up post as Director of the Health Services Management Centre (HSMC) and Professor of Health Policy and Management at the University of Birmingham on 1 June 2015. This followed six years spent as Director of Policy at the Nuffield Trust, an independent charitable health research foundation in London.

Earlier in her career, Judith spent 12 years at HSMC, holding the positions of Senior Lecturer, Director of Research, and Academic Director of the NHS Management Training Scheme. From 2007 to 2009, Judith was based in New Zealand as a Visiting Senior Research Fellow at the Health Services Research Centre of Victoria University of Wellington and working as an advisor to the New Zealand Ministry of Health. Early in her career she was a senior manager in the NHS, and successfully completed the NHS graduate management training scheme. Judith is a Non-executive Director of the Birmingham Children’s Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, an Honorary Professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and Visiting Senior Research Fellow at Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand. Judith’s other roles have included being an expert advisor on NHS organisation and commissioning, and policy assessor to the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust Public Inquiry, a member of the board of the UK Health Services Research Network and the European Health Management Association, and chair of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society Commission on Models of Care.

NHS ten-year plan for England: what’s in it and what’s needed to make it work

Jul 06, 2025 12:10 pm UTC| Insights & Views Politics

The UK government has published its eagerly awaited ten-year health plan for England, setting out how billions of pounds in NHS funding will be used to transform healthcare delivery across the country. As anticipated, the...

Is the crisis in the NHS as bad as the Red Cross says it is?

Jan 11, 2017 15:42 pm UTC| Insights & Views

There have been many warnings over the past few years about the problems facing the NHS and social care. But the British Red Cross is the first to describe the situation as a humanitarian crisis. The Red Cross is one of...

Economy

WTO Reform Talks Begin in Cameroon Amid Global Trade Tensions

Trade ministers from around the world convened Thursday in Yaoundé, Cameroon, for a critical four-day summit focused on reforming the World Trade Organization. The high-stakes gathering comes at a turbulent moment...

Japan Eyes Oil Futures Intervention to Stabilize Yen Amid Middle East Crisis

Japan is exploring an unconventional strategy to halt the yens ongoing decline directly intervening in global crude oil futures markets. The proposal, first reported by Reuters, signals Tokyos growing frustration as...

Asian Currencies Stay Muted as Dollar Holds Firm Amid Iran Uncertainty

Asian currencies remained largely subdued on Thursday as the U.S. dollar maintained its strength, with investors navigating mixed signals surrounding ongoing Middle East peace efforts. The U.S. Dollar Index held steady...

U.S. Stock Futures Steady as Iran Reviews U.S. Ceasefire Proposal

U.S. stock index futures held relatively steady on Wednesday evening after Iran signaled it was reviewing a ceasefire proposal put forward by Washington aimed at ending the ongoing Middle East conflict. The cautious market...

Oil Prices Climb as Iran Reviews U.S. Peace Proposal Amid Middle East Tensions

Oil prices edged higher during Asian trading on Thursday as conflicting signals over potential Middle East de-escalation kept energy markets on alert. Brent crude futures for May delivery rose 0.8% to $103.02 per barrel,...

Politics

Russia-Iran Military Alliance Deepens With Drone Shipments Amid Middle East Tensions

Moscow is moving closer to completing a multi-phase transfer of lethal drones, medicine, and food supplies to Tehran, according to Western intelligence sources cited by the Financial Times. The deliveries are designed to...

Trump Seeks Quick End to U.S.-Iran Conflict Amid Ongoing Middle East Tensions

President Donald Trump has privately told close advisers that he wants to avoid a drawn-out war with Iran and is pushing for a swift resolution to the ongoing conflict, according to a Wall Street Journal report published...

Iran-U.S. Negotiations: Tehran Reviews American Peace Proposal Amid Ongoing Gulf Conflict

Irans foreign minister confirmed Wednesday that Tehran is examining a United States peace proposal aimed at ending the escalating Gulf war, though officials stressed this falls short of direct negotiations between the two...

FEMA Reinstates $1 Billion Disaster Prevention Grant Program After Court Order

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has announced the resumption of a key disaster prevention initiative after facing legal challenges that forced the reversal of its earlier cancellation. The agency is once again...

Taiwan Arms Deal on Track Despite U.S.-China Summit Uncertainty

Taiwans Defense Minister Wellington Koo confirmed Thursday that the next major U.S. arms sale to the island remains on schedule, revealing that Taipei has already received a formal letter of guarantee from Washington...

Science

SpaceX Pivots Toward Moon City as Musk Reframes Long-Term Space Vision

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has revealed a significant shift in the companys near-term space exploration strategy, announcing that SpaceX is now prioritizing the development of a self-growing city on the Moon rather than focusing...

SpaceX Prioritizes Moon Mission Before Mars as Starship Development Accelerates

Elon Musks SpaceX is shifting its near-term space exploration strategy, choosing to prioritize a return to the Moon before pursuing missions to Mars, according to a recent Wall Street Journal report citing sources familiar...

NASA and SpaceX Target Crew-11 Undocking From ISS Amid Medical Concern

NASA has confirmed that the agency, in coordination with SpaceX, is targeting no earlier than 5 p.m. Eastern Time (2200 GMT) on Wednesday, January 14, for the undocking of the SpaceX Crew-11 mission from the International...

Neuralink Plans High-Volume Brain Implant Production and Fully Automated Surgery by 2026

Elon Musks brain-computer interface company Neuralink is preparing for a major expansion, announcing plans to begin high-volume production of its brain implant devices and transition to a fully automated surgical procedure...

Jared Isaacman Confirmed as NASA Administrator, Becomes 15th Leader of U.S. Space Agency

The U.S. Senate has officially confirmed billionaire private astronaut Jared Isaacman as the new NASA administrator, making him the 15th leader in the agencys history. The confirmation, which took place on Wednesday, marks...

Technology

Google's TurboQuant Algorithm Sends Memory Chip Stocks Tumbling

Major memory chipmakers took a significant hit on Thursday after Google researchers introduced a groundbreaking compression algorithm that threatens to reduce artificial intelligence demand for memory chips. Samsung...

Reflection AI Eyes $25 Billion Valuation in Massive $2.5 Billion Funding Round

Nvidia-backed artificial intelligence startup Reflection AI is in advanced discussions to secure $2.5 billion in fresh funding, with negotiations pointing to a staggering pre-money valuation of $25 billion, according to a...

Nanya Technology Shares Surge 10% After $2.5 Billion Private Placement from Sandisk and Cisco

Shares of Taiwan-based memory chip manufacturer Nanya Technology soared to their daily limit of 10% on Thursday morning following the companys announcement of a major $2.5 billion private placement deal backed by prominent...

SK Hynix Eyes Up to $14 Billion U.S. IPO to Fund AI Chip Expansion

South Korean memory chip giant SK Hynix has submitted a confidential filing for a U.S. stock market listing in 2026, with sources indicating the move could raise as much as $14 billion. The company intends to offer...

Meta Ties Executive Pay to Aggressive Stock Price Targets in Major Retention Push

Meta Platforms made a significant move this week by granting restricted stock units and stock options to several of its most senior leaders, including Chief Financial Officer Susan Li and Chief Technology Officer Andrew...