Dame June Raine is leaving the civil service today after four decades at the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency and its predecessor within the Department of Health.
Since 2019, she has been chief executive of the MHRA, leading the regulator through the pandemic, where it played a crucial role in the delivery of the UK's widely-praised vaccine rollout.
Civil Service World caught up with her ahead of her departure to discuss her career highlights, how she approached the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic, and her advice for civil servants starting out in their careers.
How did it feel being thrust into the spotlight during the Covid-19 pandemic? And how did you find the experience of being on television?
It was important that people understood how the vaccines were being approved in the shortest possible time to bolster public confidence in them. Did I love being on television? Not particularly, but it was a huge privilege to be a part of those press briefings alongside Jonathan Van-Tam [then deputy chief medical officer], Wei Shen Lim [chair of the Covid-19 subcommittee of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation] and [University of Liverpool professor] Munir Pirmohamed – we were dedicated to getting safety information out to the public as close to real time as possible.
What was the most challenging part of leading the MHRA during the pandemic?
With the concerted MHRA effort across ventilators, Covid tests, vaccines and anti-viral medicines, it’s difficult to pinpoint one particular challenge. Our teams were working morning, noon and night to find safe vaccines and treatments that might be effective against Covid. Many had family members or loved ones affected by Covid too, but they never made the work feel like a sacrifice in any way.
How did you unwind during such a hectic period?
Regulators like me are rule-makers and rule-followers and so when the government advice was to go for a half-hour walk every day, that is exactly what I did. The Common in Saffron Walden in Essex near my lockdown base was a lovely, tranquil place with an ancient maze where I would go to decompress.
How did you find the change of pace in a return to more normal times after the pandemic response had wound down?
You’d be surprised – the work my colleagues and I did during the pandemic really isn’t that different to our business as usual, albeit on a bigger and more time-critical scale. In fact, the MHRA’s laboratory scientists have played a critical role in responding to some major public health emergencies of the 21st Century, including outbreaks of viruses causing Ebola, Zika and Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome (MERS). When the virus causing Covid-19 emerged, it was therefore no surprise that the World Health Organisation turned to the MHRA.
"What makes a great leader? Great clarity of vision, combined with communication skills, courage and empathy"
In your lengthy career in the civil service, what have been your proudest moments?
There have been quite a few. Our world-first approval of the Covid-19 vaccine made by Pfizer/BioNTech is definitely up there at the top. Another is the first approval of a CRISPR gene-editing treatment for sickle cell disease and thalassaemia. These moments can hit the headlines, but I’m just as proud of making the morning-after pill available in pharmacies so women can access it easily. It’s all about assessing risk and benefit from the point of view of patients and the public.
And what was your most difficult day as a civil servant?
Realising that we would be losing some of our most experienced scientific staff after the pandemic, when their visible skills and talents had been appreciated so clearly by the outside world, was very difficult. It was clear our performance as an agency delivering services would be under pressure.
Thankfully, the subsequent years have seen us attract some great new talent, which is key to our role as a sovereign regulator and making science work for health through evolving regulatory science – driving forward the new era of personalised medicines, genomics and AI.
When did you first join the MHRA and what led you to stay at the executive agency for so long?
I can’t believe I joined the MHRA nearly 40 years ago! I’d been a GP for five years, and I had a penchant for the research world. One of my professors at Oxford who was a safety adviser on medicines told me that regulation was at the cutting edge scientifically. As he predicted, I saw the value of the work almost as soon as I started. At that time, HIV was just becoming a global threat, and I witnessed first hand how these new antiretroviral cocktails turned HIV from a death sentence into a disease you could live with and even, in time, be cured. Right from the beginning, regulation captured my imagination as a means of translating robust scientific methodologies into tangible health benefits – and I’ve been here ever since.
What qualities make for a good leader?
I’d say great clarity of vision, combined with communication skills, courage and empathy. All backed up by the Nolan principles – integrity, honesty, objectivity, accountability, selflessness – and sheer hard work!
"In these times of great change and considerable uncertainty, I’d advise holding fast to the purpose and values of public service"
If you were prime minister for the day, what one change would you make to how government works?
From the perspective of a health body, I wouldn’t make any change at this point – we have clear goals and the huge opportunity as a civil service to deliver generational change in safeguarding the nation’s health.
I hear you’re a fan of the opera. Which opera is most like your professional life?
Hmm – many operas don’t end well for the female lead! I guess I would pick The Magic Flute. Not without its controversies, this one has a metaphor that many trials may lead to something becoming better, and – oh yes – it has a monster somewhere needing to be slain, just like SARS-CoV-2!
What’s your advice for civil servants starting their careers now?
In these times of great change and considerable uncertainty, I’d advise holding fast to the purpose and values of public service. As we navigate financial constraints and system reform, holding front of mind the core values of public service will help deliver that generational change and, in doing so, keep the public’s trust.
What’s next for Dame June Raine?
I wouldn’t miss a moment of the last four decades of incredible teamwork. But I’m looking forward to some personal regeneration. Maybe not the traditional 3Gs (golf, gardening and grandchildren), though I’m blessed with two delightful granddaughters. More the 3Ms: music, mountains and maybe offering some mentoring, if that’s called for.