News story: John Wilkinson OBE, Director of Devices to retire

John Wilkinson, Director of Devices at the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, will be stepping down from his position at the end of October 2019.

John has been with the Agency since February 2012. Since that time, he has made a significant contribution to the work of the organisation, both nationally and internationally. Together with his team, he has led on the safety of medical devices and the review of future medical devices regulation.

As such, and as one of his many achievements, John championed the development of the new EU Regulations for Medical Devices and In Vitro Diagnostic device legislation.

John has also chaired the Competent Authorities Medical Devices (CAMD) Executive, which seeks to enhance collaboration between European member states and the European Commission in developing and managing the EU medical devices regulatory system.

He has led his team of experts in investigating reports of problems involving medical devices. The results of which are used to advise the public and healthcare professionals on the safe use of devices, as well as work with manufacturers to improve device safety.

In announcing his retirement, John said:

These decisions are never easy to make, and with a very heavy heart, I have now decided to step down from my role at the Agency. I felt that now was the right time for me to move on to the next stage of my life.

These last 7 years have been a wonderful experience for myself and I am proud to have been associated with, and worked for, the regulator. I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my Agency colleagues with whom I’ve worked – I leave knowing that their drive and commitment in protecting public health will continue unabated.

It’s for others to judge for themselves the work I’ve done, but my aim has always been to ensure high levels of patient safety whilst creating the right environment for medical devices to develop at a pace which continues to improve people’s lives and contributes to a sustainable development of our health services.”

Prior to joining the Agency, John was Chief Executive of Eucomed, the European medical technology industry association.

His earlier experience included the role of Director General of the Association of British Healthcare Industries and a number of roles in the medical devices industry, both in the UK and the USA, with Becton Dickinson and the BOC Group. These were followed by a period as Chief Executive of an early stage medical imaging company.

John holds a first degree in Zoology from the University of Aberdeen and an MBA from the University of Warwick.

He was awarded an OBE for services to the medical devices industry in the 2010 New Year’s honours list.