Polly Curtis and Anne Davies have been appointed to the Board of the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman with effect from Monday 9 May 2022.
Polly Curtis is a journalist, author, and media executive. She has worked as a reporter, news editor, and then digital editor at the Guardian before leading HuffPost UK as Editor-In-Chief. Her interest has always been in how the state's powers impact ordinary people and building media models that reach those who are often left out of the news conversation and therefore disenfranchised. Polly served on the Cairncross Review for the future sustainability of high-quality news, has been a visiting fellow at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism and was most recently Managing Director of PA Media, the UK's national news agency.
Anne Davies is a Professor of Law and Public Policy in the Faculty of Law at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of Brasenose College. Her research interests include employment law and administrative law. She was Dean of the Faculty of Law from 2015 to 2020 and had a part-time role as an advisor to the Welsh Language Commissioner. She has previously served as an independent member of the Council of the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS).
PHSO Chair and Ombudsman Rob Behrens said:
“Polly and Anne have an abundance of experience that will be vital in providing direction to PHSO as we deliver our new three-year strategy. I am delighted to welcome them to the PHSO Board. I look forward to working with both and making use of their knowledge and talent as we continue to transform PHSO into a first-class complaint-handling service and a modern and vibrant organisation.”