NEWS
NICE appoints new Chief
Medical Officer
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has announced the appointment of Dr Adrian Hayter as its new Chief Medical Officer, bolstering the institute’s clinical leadership, following the appointment of CEO Professor Jonathan Benger last year. Dr Hayter (pictured) brings more
than three decades of frontline clinical and national leadership experience to the role, spanning general practice, NHS commissioning and national clinical leadership. A practising GP at Runnymede Medical Practice, Dr Hayter will next year celebrate 30 years as a GP Partner, reflecting his longstanding commitment to primary care. Dr Hayter commented: “I am honoured to be joining NICE as Chief Medical Officer at such a critical time for health and care. As a GP, I know first-hand how vital it is that NICE’s guidance is not only independent, but developed in a way
that allows clinicians to deliver the best possible care, and I am commited to ensuring NICE continues to play its full part in a health system that must keep evolving to meet the needs of patients and the public. My ambition is to ensure NICE continues to drive innovation into the hands of clinicians and commissioners, delivering real improvements in health outcomes while making the best use of the resources available to the NHS.” Over the course of his career, Dr
Hayter has held a series of significant leadership roles. He chaired the Windsor, Ascot and Maidenhead Clinical Commissioning Group between 2013 and 2018, and in 2019 became the first GP to be appointed as National Clinical Director for Older People and Person-Centred Care by NHS England, a role he held throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
As the NHS shifts towards neighbourhood-based, person-centred care, Dr Hayter’s combination of clinical experience and strategic leadership makes him ideally placed to guide NICE through the next phase of its transformation.
At-home test could predict Alzheimer’s risk
A new study suggests a simple finger prick blood test combined with online brain testing, all done at home, could help identify people at risk of developing dementia. The study, which has been published
in Nature Communications, was funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research’s (NIHR) Exeter Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) and supported by the NIHR HealthTech Research Centre in Brain Health and NIHR Applied Research Collaboration South West. Led by the University of Exeter, the
researchers found that proteins linked to dementia in blood samples were associated with performance on cognitive tests. This approach could help identify people at risk sooner, ensuring they get the right care quickly, while also reassuring those at lower risk.
The research draws on the PROTECT
study, in which more than 30,000 UK participants aged over 40 take regular cognitive tests online to measure memory, atention and executive function, or decision-making skills. A total of 174 PROTECT participants
were sent at-home blood tests, which they administered themselves before posting back to the team. The researchers used these blood tests to measure two proteins:
p-tau217, which is linked to Alzheimer’s disease, and Gfap, which is linked to broader brain decline. They found that performance on the brain tests correlated with the presence of the proteins. This enabled the team to categorise people at low, medium and high risk. Professor Anne Corbet of the University
of Exeter Medical School, who led the research, said: “Our previous research has shown that a finger-prick blood test can effectively be taken at home and posted to laboratories, and that we can identify the biomarkers in blood linked to dementia. This new study builds on that to show that we can link these biomarkers with performance on brain tests, giving us a potential way to predict risk of dementia. This work raises the potential for screening people for their risk without the need for clinic visits or complex clinical assessments. It would ensure the people at highest risk could be prioritised for monitoring and diagnosis, unlocking the best support and treatment for those that need it most.” Corbet A, Sander-Long M, Ashton NJ, et al. Alzheimer’s Disease blood biomarkers measured through remote capillary sampling correlate with cognition in older adults. Nat Commun. 2026;17(1):3699. doi:10.1038/s41467- 026-71448-2
Award win recognises Mast Group
Mast Group was recently recognised for its contribution to bowel cancer screening, receiving the Primary / Social Care Partnership Award at the Medilink North of England Healthcare Business Awards 2026.
When almost seven million people
across England completed a bowel cancer screening test last year, the diagnostic products at the heart of the programme were supplied by Mast Group, the Merseyside-based company that has spent two decades championing, validating and delivering FIT diagnostic products and instruments across Europe. Mast Group’s involvement in
bowel cancer screening is a story of confidence as much as commerce. When the company began its faecal immunochemical testing (FIT) journey in 2005, bowel cancer screening across Europe relied predominantly on an older
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WWW.PATHOLOGYINPRACTICE.COM June 2026
testing technology. Working with clinical, biochemical and in vitro diagnostic experts globally, Mast set out to underpin the introduction of FIT testing in clinical pathways across national screening programmes, enabling the introduction of European guidelines by building the evidence base, engaging health systems and demonstrating superior sensitivity to previous methods. Pictured above with the award are (left
to right): Carmel Aldrige (Mast Group), Emily George (Mast Group) and Sarah Glanville (from award sponsor Leyton).
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