Professor Sir Mike Richards, previously National Cancer Director at the Department of Health, and former head of the Academic Division of Oncology at King's College London, is the new chief inspector of hospitals in England.

In his new role he will have the power to enter hospitals, both in planned and unplanned inspections, to highlight problems before they develop into another scandal of the kind that happened in Mid-Staffordshire. He talks about his new role to Nigel Hawkes.

See also:“We know where to probe,” says Mike Richards, the new chief inspector of hospitals http://www.bmj.com/content/347/bmj.f5557