Graeme Tunbridge appointed interim Director of Devices

Biography

Graeme first joined the MHRA in 2011 and has spent much of his time at the MHRA negotiating, and now implementing, a package of measures to strengthen the regulation of medical devices.

Graeme has been a civil servant for 15 years and spent his early career working on healthcare policy. He has previously held Deputy Director roles at the Department of Health and spent 18 months as Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for Health.

He has a Master’s degree in biochemistry from the University of Oxford.

Role

The Director of Devices leads the division in the Agency that is responsible for the operation of the regulatory framework that ensures the safety and performance of medical devices on the UK market. This includes:

• investigating reports of problems involving medical devices and taking action in response to these, such as advising healthcare professionals on the safe use of devices, working with manufacturers to improve device safety and, where needed, taking enforcement action
• reviewing proposals to undertake clinical investigations using medical devices on patients in the UK
• overseeing the UK notified bodies for medical devices, which are responsible for the pre-market assessment of higher-risk products
• ensuring the smooth operation of the regulatory framework, including the provision of regulatory advice