London Health and Social Care Industry Dinner 2025

Dr Zubir Ahmed MP

Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health Innovation and Safety

Dr. Zubir Ahmed MP represents Glasgow South West, having been elected in the July 2024 general election. He has a notable background as a transplant and vascular surgeon, contributing to clinical practice and academic research. Additionally, he has volunteered extensively on international medical missions. In September 2025, he was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, where he oversees NHS innovation and patient safety. 
 

Samantha Jones OBE

Permanent Secretary, Department of Health and Social Care

Samantha started her career as a general and paediatric nurse. Having completed the NHS Management Training Scheme, she worked in a variety of operational management roles across the NHS including as a chief executive for 2 trusts. She has worked nationally at NHS England leading the New Models of Care programme before moving to run primary care services as chief executive of the largest primary care provider in England. Throughout her career Samantha has worked in both the public and private sector focused on delivering health services.
Samantha was appointed as expert adviser to the Prime Minister for NHS transformation and social care in 2021 where she led on all elements of health and social care policy before taking up post as the interim Permanent Secretary and Chief Operating Officer for 10 Downing Street. Samantha was also the expert adviser to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, and most recently became Permanent Secretary of the Department for Health and Social Care in June 2025. 

Dr Sam Roberts

Chief Executive, National Institute for Health and Care Excellence

Sam Roberts is the Chief Executive of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. She has worked in healthcare for 20 years in a combination of clinical, operational, private sector and academic roles. She originally trained as a doctor before undertaking an MBA and joining McKinsey and Company. Her focus for the last 15 years has been on improving quality of clinical care and supporting uptake of innovation - as Head of Operations at a large teaching hospital in London (UCLH), Director of Innovation, Research and Life Sciences at NHS England and Improvement and Chief Executive of the Accelerated Access Collaborative. Prior to joining NICE she invested in early stage digital health and diagnostics companies. She has an academic interest in the influence of health economic analysis on policy and clinical practice, having worked at the London School of Economics followed by doctoral studies at the University of Oxford.  

Yatin Mahandru

VP, Head of Public Sector and Health, Cognizant UK & Ireland, Cognizant

Yatin is a thought leader and advisor with 40 years of experience in the public and private sectors supporting the delivery of complex, large-scale transformational programmes in the UK and globally. A member of the UK leadership team, in his role, Yatin sets and executes the growth strategy with a focus on how and where advances in technology can be beneficial to citizen services while delivering through empowered teams. He is certified coach, mediator and board-level advisor with an interest in developing future leaders and supporting boards in developing inclusive growth strategies.