David Behan

Sir David Behan CBE is the chief executive of the Care Quality Commission, an appointment he has held since 2012. He was formerly the Department of Health's director general for social care, local government and care partnerships. He was the Director of Adult Social Services in the London Borough of Greenwich from 1996 to 2003. In 2004 he was appointed a CBE for services to social care.

He was said by the Health Service Journal to be the seventh most powerful person in the English NHS in December 2013, and in 2015 the fifth.

In January 2014 he threw his weight behind a wide definition for the statutory duty of candour which was recommended by the Francis Report. The Government originally intended the duty to be limited to cases of “severe harm” – when a patient had been killed or left permanently disabled, as a wider reporting requirement could inundate organisations with unnecessary bureaucracy. The CQC estimates there are about 11,000 incidents of severe harm per year, and up to 100,000 incidents of serious harm, although there may be significant under reporting of both. The charity Action Against Medical Accidents has been campaigning for a wide definition and Behan made it clear that he was supporting them.

Behan was knighted in the 2017 New Year Honours for services to health and care.