Professor Tom Wilkinson

Medical Director

Professor Wilkinson was most recently the Senior Clinical Lead for the National Respiratory Audit Programme (NRAP), managed by the Royal College of Physicians as part of HQIP’s national clinical audit programme, he brings extensive experience in clinical audit and data-driven improvement. Alongside his role at HQIP, he continues as Professor of Respiratory Medicine at the University of Southampton and honorary NHS consultant physician at University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust. His deep understanding of the systemic challenges facing healthcare, combined with a strong commitment to patient-centred, evidence-informed improvement, positions him to support clinical audits in working with commissioners and providers to translate data into tangible improvements in care.

With over 20 years’ experience in asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) research and clinical service development, Professor Wilkinson leads the Southampton COPD research group and the airways disease theme of the NIHR Southampton Biomedical Research Centre. He is a long-standing advocate for the use of healthcare data to generate actionable insights, identify and address variations in outcomes, and improve patient care. He has expressed his passion for working with the wider healthcare community to drive improvements across NHS services, and his appointment comes at a time of growing focus on maximising the impact of data on patient outcomes, aligned with the ambitions of the NHS 10 Year Plan and wider healthcare strategies.