Ex-Test and Trace director appointed as Starmer’s expert adviser on health

Axel Heitmueller previously held government roles in No.10, Cabinet Office, DHSC and DWP
Axel Heitmueller Photo: Imperial Colleague Health Partners

By Tevye Markson

10 Jun 2025

A former senior civil servant who worked as chief analyst in No.10 and as a director at NHS Test and Trace has been appointed as the prime minister's expert adviser on health.

In the role, Axel Heitmueller will advise ministers and drive forward the government’s vision for health and social care, No.10 said. 

Heitmueller takes on the role after nine years as chief executive of Imperial College Health Partners, a non-profit organisation which brings together NHS providers of healthcare services, integrated care systems and universities across north west London.

He also has plenty of experience working in government, including a nine-month stint as director for strategy and innovation at NHS Test and Trace in the Department of Health and Social Care during the Covid-19 pandemic.

A decade earlier, Heitmueller worked in the civil service as deputy director and chief analyst in No.10, from 2008 to 2010, and expert adviser to the work and pensions secretary, from 2009 to 2010.

He was also a senior policy adviser in the Prime Minister's Strategy Unit from 2006 to 2008 under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, while his first government role was at the Department for Work and Pensions as an economic adviser.

Heitmueller also worked as executive director of strategy and business development at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, from 2010 to 2013. 

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