Sir Hugh Henderson Taylor, KCB (born 22 March 1950) is a British former Permanent Secretary at the Department of Health and current Chair of Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust.
[1] Taylor began his Civil Service career at the Home Office in 1972 before joining the Department of Health in 1998, where he was Permanent Secretary between 2006 and 2010.
In 2015 Sir Hugh took up post as independent Chair of the Accelerated Access Review for bringing innovative medical technologies to NHS patients.
Taylor was Permanent Secretary of the Department of Health, at the time of the failings which led to thousands of deaths at Mid Staffs NHS Trust.
Nonetheless, Taylor as the senior civil servant responsible for the healthcare system in England at that time, was not singled out for personal criticism, and was allowed to become a chair of NHS organisations.