View Piers Ricketts's ProfilePiers is the Chief Executive of Health Innovation East, a specialist advisory firm funded by NHS England and the Office for Life Sciences to advance the adoption of innovative technologies, care pathways and medicines within the health and care system. Under his leadership, the organisation has grown to include a team of over 80 professionals, including clinicians, clinical scientists, health data specialists and life sciences industry experts. This team works on technology-enabled change programmes for the NHS across the East of England and supports academics and life sciences companies in positioning their products for NHS use.
Recent accomplishments under Rickett’s leadership include implementing new clinical pathways for eating disorders and ADHD diagnosis in young people, creating a secure cloud-based system for genomics data storage across multiple organisations and helping life sciences companies secure over £50 million in external funding during 2023–24.
Health Innovation East is one of 15 regional health innovation networks, collectively employing over 700 specialists and serving as the NHS’s main innovation arm. Rickett previously chaired the AHSN Network, the predecessor network, from 2019 to 2021 and led a diagnostics innovation team at the Department of Health during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.
An experienced speaker on innovation, Rickett addresses audiences at health and life sciences conferences and the broader HealthTech community, both in the UK and internationally. Known for his ability to inspire focus and energy in colleagues and clients alike, he is proud of the growth at Health Innovation East, which has tripled in size during his tenure. Rickett holds a professional certificate in Executive Coaching and a postgraduate certificate in coaching for developmental change from Henley Business School.
Earlier in his career, Rickett spent the majority of his professional life at KPMG in the UK, where he became a Partner advising boards and management teams in healthcare, higher education and social housing. He established and expanded several public sector advisory businesses within the firm, including leading KPMG’s NHS and healthcare management consulting practice, which he grew to 100 people. Rickett has over 20 years of experience in strategy, commercial work, financial due diligence and M&A across various sectors, including banking, finance, transport and private equity.
A Chartered Accountant (ACA), Rickett trained with KPMG and qualified in 1997.
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