The Francis Inquiry

Robert Francis QC

Chair, Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust Public Inquiry

Robert Francis QC has practised as a barrister since 1973 and is a specialist in medical legal issues including clinical negligence claims, in which he acts for both claimants and defendants. He has extensive experience of medically related inquiries, having appeared as a barrister at the Bristol Royal Infirmary Inquiry, the Royal Liverpool Children's Inquiry, and the Neale Inquiry. He has also chaired three homicide inquiries into the care and treatment of mentally disordered patients: Michael Stone in Kent; Peter Bryan and Richard Loudwell in Broadmoor Hospital; and Glaister Earle Butler in Birmingham.

Appearing frequently for doctors before the 'fitness to practise panels' of the General Medical Council, Robert often deals with cases raising difficult ethical issues in medical treatment, such as the withdrawal of nutrition from patients in a permanent vegetative state and professional disciplinary and regulatory cases.

Robert Francis QC chaired the Independent Inquiry into care provided by Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust between January 2005 and March 2009, which reported on 24 February 2009. He has been asked by the Secretary of State for Health, Andrew Lansley MP, to chair this subsequent Public Inquiry into the role of the commissioning, supervisory and regulatory bodies in the monitoring of Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust.

David Behan CBE

Chief Executive, Care Quality Commission

David began his post as Chief Executive in July 2012.

David was born and brought up in Blackburn in Lancashire and graduated from Bradford University in 1978. He was awarded a CBE in 2003, and, in 2004, was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Law by Greenwich University

He was previously the Director General of Social Care, Local Government and Care Partnerships at the Department of Health, the President of the Association of Directors of Social Services, and the first Chief Inspector of the Commission for Social Care Inspection.

Between 1996 to 2003, he was Director of Social Services at London Borough of Greenwich and a member of the Greenwich Primary Care Trust Board and the Professional Executive Committee.

Dr Daniel Poulter MP

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Health

Dr Dan Poulter was appointed Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department of Health in September 2012.

He was elected MP for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich in May 2010, having previously worked as an NHS hospital doctor specialising primarily in obstetrics, gynaecology and women's health.  Dr Poulter continues to practice medicine as an NHS hospital doctor on a part-time basis. 

Dr Poulter was a member of the Health Select Committee, Chair of the Parliamentary Group on Maternity, and an Officer of the Parliamentary group to improve global health. He has previously helped to run medical and lifestyle advice clinics for the homeless and people with drug and alcohol misuse problems.

Outside of medicine, Dr Poulter was previously Deputy Leader of Reigate and Banstead Council (2008 -10). He gained a Law Degree from Bristol University and a degree in medicine from Guy’s, King’s and St Thomas’ School of Medicine.

Harry Cayton OBE

Harry Cayton OBE, Chief Executive, Professional Standards Authority

Harry Cayton OBE is chief executive of the Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care, the statutory body which oversees the regulation and registration of health and care professions in the UK. From 2001-2007 he was National Director for Patients and the Public at the Department of Health following 20 years in the voluntary sector, latterly as chief executive of the Alzheimer’s Society. He is member of the World Economic Forum Council on Digital Health, chair of the Commission on Human Medicines, Patient and Public Involvement Advisory Group, a trustee of Comic Relief, and advisor to several charities.

Niall Dickson

Chief Executive and Registrar, General Medical Council

Niall Dickson joined the General Medical Council as Chief Executive and Registrar in January 2010.

He leads the Senior Management Team, which is responsible for the day to day running of the GMC. He is accountable to Council and reports directly to the Chair of Council, Professor Sir Peter Rubin.

Niall joined the GMC from The King's Fund, the leading independent think tank and development organisation, where he was Chief Executive for six years (2004-2009).

He began his career in teaching before taking up posts in national voluntary organisations involved with older people. He was Editor of Therapy Weekly for the allied health professions and then of Nursing Times.

He moved to the BBC in 1988 as Health Correspondent, became Chief Social Affairs Correspondent and then, in 1995, Social Affairs Editor, focussing mainly on Radio 4's Today programme and the Ten O'clock News on BBC 1.

Niall is a member of the Department of Health's National Quality Board and End of Life Care Implementation Advisory Board.

He is the Chairman of the Leeds Castle Foundation. His honorary awards include being a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and as Fellow of the Royal College of General Practitioners.

Professor David Hands

Visiting Professor in Health Policy and Management,
Welsh Institute for Health and Social Care, University of Glamorgan

David Hands is Visiting Professor in Health Policy and Management in the Welsh Institute for Health and Social Care at the University of Glamorgan in Wales. He is also an Honorary Senior Fellow in the Institute of Medical and Social Care Research at the University of Wales, Bangor.

David’s understanding of health policy and management is based on his work in research, teaching and international consultancy in addition to wide experience as a practising NHS manager.

David’s NHS management career began in Birmingham, then Liverpool and the NHS Management Training programme at Manchester University. He subsequently held senior NHS management posts in England and Wales including Director and Chief Executive roles in Birmingham, Surrey, Oxford, Bath, Northamptonshire, Cardiff and North Wales.

In the 1970s David was a Research Fellow in the Health Services Organisation Research Unit at Brunel University where he undertook research and development work in relation to the major 1974 reorganisation of the NHS. He also taught health policy and organisational studies in the University and at The Kings Fund College.

Following research on the NHS Planning System, David was invited to establish and develop the new health planning programmes at The King’s Fund where he also contributed to leadership development courses and many development initiatives.

David’s consultancy experience includes Associate Directorship of IHSM Consultants, a subsidiary of the former Institute of Health Services Management, and Director of Management Consultancy for an international health consultancy. He has
wide experience of many development projects in all parts of the UK, North America, Scandinavia and Europe, including Temporary Adviser appointments to the World Health Organisation.

David is deeply committed to high standards of professionalism in health management, has served on many development and advisory groups and has made many contributions to the professional literature.

Suzie Hughes

Lay chair, Patient and Carer Involvement Steering Group (PCSG), Royal College of Physicians

Professor Rhona Flin

Professor of Applied Psychology, University of Aberdeen

Rhona Flin (PhD, FBPsS, FRSE) is Professor of Applied Psychology and Director of the Industrial Psychology Research Centre at the University of Aberdeen.  She leads a team of psychologists conducting research on human performance in high risk industries and healthcare. Her group’s projects include studies of leadership, safety culture, team skills and decision making in acute medicine, aviation and energy industries (ww.abdn.ac.uk/iprc). She is currently studying non-technical skills in drilling rig crews, decision making by surgeons and senior managers’ safety leadership. Her latest books are Safety at the Sharp End: A Guide to Non-Technical Skills (with O’Connor & Crichton, Ashgate, 2008) and Safer Surgery: Analysing Behaviour in the Operating Theatre (with Mitchell, Ashgate, 2009).

Professor Sir Ian Kennedy

Former Chairman Healthcare Commission

Kathy McLean

Medical Director, NHS Trust Development Authority

Dr Kathy McLean is Medical Director at the NHS Trust Development Authority.  Until recently, she was the Clinical Transitions Director in the NHS Medical Directorate supporting Sir Bruce Keogh to embed clinical expertise and leadership at the heart of the NHS Commissioning Board.  She also worked to influence how the commissioning system will continuously improve quality in the NHS in a range of ways including through clinical networks and new clinical senates.

Kathy was Medical Director at East Midlands Strategic Health Authority and prior to that was Medical Director at Derby Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust where she was a physician from 1994 until 2009.

Sir Jonathan Michael

Chief Executive, Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust 

Sir Jonathan Michael is Chief Executive of Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust, and his previous roles include Managing Director of BT Health, Chief Executive of Guys and St Thomas's Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Chief Executive of University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Trust. Sir Jonathan, who began his career as a consultant physician, has also acted as Chairman of the Board for NHS Innovations London and the NHS Foundation Trust Network, and was knighted for services to the NHS in 2005.

Eric Morton

Interim Chief Executive, Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Dr Mark Porter

Chair of Council, British Medical Association

Dr Mark Porter is a consultant anaesthetist at the University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire (UHCW) NHS Trust.  His special interest is in obstetric anaesthesia and the continual development of maternity services to improve the mother's experience.  In the past he has been a clinical director of his department, and the chair of the medical staff local negotiating committee.

Mark is also the elected chair of the Council of the British Medical Association. His previous roles in the BMA have included being the chair of the Consultants Committee from 2009-2012, and its deputy chair responsible for pay and conditions of service from 2006-2009.  He was closely involved in negotiating the 2003 consultant contract, and while he was a junior doctor he was the chair of the BMA Junior Doctors Committee from 1997-1998. 

Cllr David Rogers OBE

Chair of the Local Government Association’s Community Wellbeing Board, and vice-chair of Health Scrutiny in East Sussex

Jackie Smith

Chief Executive and Registrar, Nursing and Midwifery Council

Jan Sobieraj

Managing Director, NHS Leadership Academy

Jan Sobieraj was appointed Managing Director of the NHS Leadership Academy shortly after its launch in April 2012.

The Academy’s vision is to be a centre of excellence and beacon of good practice on leadership development. It is a strategic intervention for the NHS, designed to make sure the health system develops the leadership it needs to meet the challenges it will face in the coming years.

Jan was appointed after having served in the post of Managing Director for NHS and Social Care Workforce at the Department of Health from July 2011.

In 2011 he was seconded from NHS Sheffield where he was Chief Executive from 2006 to the Department of Health as Director of Leadership.

He has been a Chief Executive in different NHS organisations for 13 years, including taking Barnsley Hospital to a first NHS Foundation Trust.

Jan is a Honorary Professor of De Montfort University, a visiting Senior Fellow at Sheffield Hallam University as well as a Governor of the Health Foundation and has held a number of senior roles on national bodies and local organisations.

Over the last 30 years of his management career, Jan has been passionate about working in partnership with leaders, staff, patients and trade unions to improve healthcare.

Anna Walker

Chair, Office of Rail Regulation

Peter Walsh

Chief Executive, Action against Medical Accidents

Peter Walsh is chief executive of  Action against Medical Accidents (‘AvMA’ – the specialist charity for patient safety and justice). AvMA provide help and advice to over 3,000 people a year who have been affected by medical accidents, and works with health professionals and the NHS to improve patient safety. The charity supported many families who lost loved ones at Stafford in independent reviews and several inquests. AvMA were a core participant at the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust public inquiry, and Peter gave evidence personally (for a full day). Peter has also been appointed by the WHO as a ‘patients for patient safety champion’ and often writes and speaks on the topic of patient safety and redress for injured patients.

Michael West

Professor of Organisational Psychology, Lancaster University Management School

Professor Norman Williams

President, Royal College of Surgeons

Consultant colorectal surgeon Professor Norman Williams became College President in July 2011. He is Professor of Surgery and Director of Innovation at the Academic Surgical Unit of Barts and The London, Queen Mary’s School of Medicine and Dentistry. His main clinical interests are sphincter preservation and reconstructive surgery, and his scientific interests are concentrated on GI motility and anorectal physiology.

Professor Williams was elected as a Council Member and Trustee of the College in 2005, and most recently chaired the Research and Academic Board, the Invited Review Mechanism and was Lead for the National Fellowship Scheme. Prior to being elected as College President, he was President of the Society of Academic & Research Surgery and President of the national patient charity, The Ileostomy & Internal Pouch Support Group. Professor Williams has also been Chairman of the UKCCCR committee on Colorectal Cancer, President of European Digestive Surgery, President of The International Surgical Group and Vice Chairman of The British Journal of Surgery.

Professor Williams is joint editor of Bailey and Love’s Short Practice of Surgery, co-author of Surgery of the Anus, Rectum and Colon and is a trustee of Bowel & Cancer Research. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences, an Honorary Fellow of The American Surgical Association, and in 2011 gave the prestigious Hunterian Oration at the College and was awarded the Cutlers’ Surgical Prize.