English Institute of Sport appoints Dr Pippa Bennett as Director of Clinical Governance
The English Institute of Sport (EIS) has appointed Dr Pippa Bennett as Director of Clinical Governance, further strengthening the organisation’s delivery of world-leading sport science and medicine services across the UK high performance system.
The newly-formed role comes as a result of the EIS proactively commissioning a strategic review of its medical services in 2022. The independent review followed an extensive consultation process involving key individuals from across the high performance sporting system. It builds on an incredibly strong foundation already in place for the organisation’s medical services provision, and supports the EIS’ ambition of setting the standards globally in relation to supporting athlete performance through excellence in medical care.
As current Chief Medical Officer for the British Paralympic Association (BPA)/EIS, Joint Acting Medical Director at the EIS and Professional Women’s Game and Paralympic Football Medical Lead at the Football Association (FA), Pippa will bring a wealth of experience to this position. Pippa will continue her role with the BPA/EIS but will step down from the FA to take up this new opportunity.
Pippa’s professional career was initially grounded in general practice before specialising in sport and exercise medicine. This change in career path has led to Pippa holding several governance and medical leadership roles across a range of sports, including gymnastics and equestrian.
The key purpose of the Director of Clinical Governance role is to provide professional leadership on clinical governance, organisational standards, and the high performance system professional code. Within the context of clinical governance, this translates to ensuring that the right person doing the right thing at the right time.
Pippa will also act as a critical advisor to the UK high performance system in setting and delivering standards of clinical governance, as well as collaborating with a range of internal and external stakeholders.
Commenting on the appointment, EIS Chief Executive Officer, Matt Archibald, said: “We are delighted to be appointing Dr Pippa Bennett as Director of Clinical Governance at the EIS following a highly competitive interview process.
“The creation of this role demonstrates our commitment to delivering excellence in sports science and medicine across the UK high performance system. It embodies our organisational core values and will ensure that we hold ourselves accountable to the highest possible standards at all times.
“As a key recommendation from the independent review of our medical services provision, this role has an immense amount of potential to positively influence the entire system, and we look forward to seeing the impact that Pippa will undoubtedly make in post.”
Dr Pippa Bennett added: “I am delighted to be appointed in the new role of Director of Clinical Governance. The values of the EIS are in essence exactly what clinical governance is all about. With excellence, innovation, collaboration – and for me, most importantly, care – at the heart of everything we do for our athletes.
“I will be hanging up my football boots again by leaving the Football Association to take on this role. Para football is going from strength to strength at the FA and I hope I have played a small part in supporting these brilliant athletes. It has been a privilege to have worked with the professional women’s game in recent years, overseeing the medical provision for clubs after 14 years of working with England teams. The beautiful game will always remain in my heart.”
Pippa’s start date as Director of Clinical Governance will be confirmed in due course.