Dr Alan Hancock

Originally a BBC radio and television producer, and a founder member of the UK Open University team, Dr. Hancock worked for a number of years in Asia and joined UNESCO in 1969 as a regional communication adviser for Asia and the Pacific. Moving to Unesco Headquarters in Paris in 1972, he spent more than twenty years with the Communication Division, where he was Director from 1987.  In 1992, he became a Principal Director and established a dedicated programme for UNESCO in Central and Eastern Europe. After establishing himself as an independent consultant in 1996, he undertook numerous assignments for the European Commission in Brussels, the World Bank and communication agencies across Europe.

In retirement since 2014, Dr Hancock is active in civil society, primarily in the health sector, where he has a particular interest in renal medicine and in integrated health and social care, always from a patient viewpoint. He was Chair of his local Patient Participation Group for three years, a founding Trustee of Healthwatch Milton Keynes and a Public Governor of Milton Keynes University Hospital Foundation Trust. As a living donor kidney transplant recipient ( from 2018) he is a member of the UK Kidney Association’s Patient Council and  active as a patient representative in a number of kidney charities and kidney research projects.