Commissioners Acting in an Advisory Capacity

• Rukshana Kapasi – Rukshana is Director of Health for Barnardo’s, appointed to transform the organisation to a health and social care provider. She has worked extensively in the NHS, for the DH, King’s Fund and charitable sector as a commissioner, clinician and Board member. She has stimulated some key directional changes in the public sector such as research which led to the introduction of PALs into every hospital in England, Patient Choice in primary care and ethnicity monitoring to improve health inequalities. Rukshana is a Non-Executive Director for Hertfordshire NHS Community Trust, Chairs the Child Health Equity Collaborative with Sir Michael Marmot and has published widely in the field of health inequalities and improving care quality.

• Jackie O’Sullivan – Jackie is Mencap’s Executive Director of Communications, Advocacy and Activism and is also one of the three chairs of the Care and Support Alliance.  She grew up all over the North of England before the bright lights of London lured her away. Since then she has worked in several Government Departments, done a stint at the European Commission in Brussels and also worked in the food industry.  Jackie’s last role before joining Mencap was as Director of National Lottery Good Causes. She joined Mencap in January 2018 and is really proud to part of the Mencap team. She lives in Hackney with three West Ham supporters.

• Ciara Lawrence, Engagement Lead, Mencap – Ciara has worked for UK learning disability charity Mencap for 21 years. She is currently Engagement Lead which includes being a media spokesperson and presenting at conferences. Ciara has a learning disability and is passionate about seeing people with a learning disability being positively portrayed on TV shows and in film. She challenges people’s views about learning disability and makes sure the voices of people with a learning disability are listened to.  During the Covid pandemic, Ciara started her own online Podcast called Ciara’s Pink Sparkle Podcast on Spotify. Ciara interviews lots of different guests like celebrities, journalists and disability campaigners to help change stigma, break down perceptions and generate positive awareness of learning disability.

• Sarah Walter, Director, ICS Network, NHS Confederation – Sarah has a background in health policy, working at the Department of Health and NHS England before joining the NHS Confederation. Sarah has operated in a number of roles at the Confed, including Director of Corporate Services and regional lead (following a family relocation to the South West) before becoming Assistant Director of the newly formed ICS Network. Sarah is passionate about women’s leadership and was previously Chair of the Confed’s Health and Care Women’s Leaders Network.

• Anna Daroy, Chief Executive, BACP –   Anna joined the British Association for Counselling an Psychotherapy (BACP) as CEO in November 2022 and has over 30 years of experience in international leadership, transforming industries and organisations in both the private and public sectors.  Most recently Anna was CEO of the Institute of Directors, Chief Operating Officer of the Government of Jersey and an Executive Director of Highways England.  She was a former member of the Transport  for the North Partnership, Joint Chair of HS2  (phase 1) and Board member of the European Confederation of Directors Association (Brussels). She is a council member of the UK Rural Policy Group.

• Steve Mulligan, Four Nations Lead, BACP – Steve Mulligan joined the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) in October 2017, to champion the skills, competence and contribution of BACP’s 57,000 members to the policy-makers and commissioners across Devolved England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.  Steve has spent much of the past two decades working to influence change across each of the parliaments and assemblies of the UK and on the devolved and regional agenda in England. This has broadly focussed on tackling the inherent policy failures that often fall between the cracks – improving access to mental health support, addressing inequalities and economic loss in disadvantaged communities, supporting people to access educational and employment opportunities, and helping to challenge environmental degradation.

• Rob Webster, Lead Chief Executive, West Yorkshire and Harrogate ICS – Rob is Chief Executive of South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust and is responsible for leading the organisation and its 4200 staff. Rob is also Lead Chief Executive for the West Yorkshire and Harrogate Health and Care Partnership [Integrated Care System]. Rob is an active member of the NHS Assembly and contributes to a number of national programmes. Rob has worked in healthcare since 1990, taking on national leadership roles in the Department of Health on policy, transformation and delivery. He has been a director for both the Prime Minister’s Delivery Unit in the Cabinet Office and a national public/private partnership.

• Sarah Price, Chief of Population Health & Inequalities and Deputy Chief Executive of  NHS Greater Manchester Integrated Care – Sarah was the Interim Chief Officer of the Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Partnership, working closely with the other NHS organisations and councils in the city region as it became a Statutory Integrated Care System .  She is now Chief of Population Health & Inequalities and Deputy Chief Executive of  NHS Greater Manchester Integrated Care which aims to improve health outcomes for its 2.8m population through working in an integrated way at both local and system level.

• Warren Heppolette, Chief Officer for Strategy & Innovation, NHS Greater Manchester Integrated Care – Warren started his career in local government as a neighbourhood housing officer over 25 years ago before moving into policy and strategy roles. He joined the NHS in 2006 and has since held a number of roles supporting collaboration across the NHS and local government. Since 2014 Warren has played a central role to bring devolved powers and budgets to Greater Manchester and is currently the Executive Lead, Strategy and System Development for the Greater Manchester Health & Social Care Partnership supporting the development of integrated care across the ten districts. He is also a Trustee of Greater Sport, the Active Partnership for Greater Manchester and a Director of FC United of Manchester, a fan-owned football club.

• Cathy Elliott, Chair, West Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership – Cathy is Chair Designate of the Integrated Care Board within West Yorkshire’s Health & Care Partnership, and holds a Department for Transport Ministerial appointment as the independent Chair of a public funding programme. She was previously Chair of Bradford District Care NHS FT; an NHS Non-Executive Director in Greater Manchester ICS; social policy advisor to non-profit organisations; and prior to that a regional Chief Executive and a national trustee in the community foundation movement. Cathy is a Senior International Fellow of the City University of New York’s Centre on Philanthropy & Civil Society; and is currently studying as a West Yorkshire Health Equity Fellow via the School of Public Health at the University of Leeds.

• Cllr David Fothergill, Chair, LGA Community Wellbeing Committee – raised in rural Lincolnshire David worked in  London and  Birmingham before moving with his family to Somerset in 1992. In business David has a wide range of operational experience including manufacturing, Children’s Homes and Older People care. Most recently has been Director of HR for a large South West employer operating across 43 sites. David is a fully qualified member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development and holds a Masters Degree in Business Administration from Warwick University. He was leader of Somerset County Council from May 2017 to May 2022.

• Lisa Nicholson, Strategic Lead for Health & Social Care, London Councils – Lisa leads London Councils’ policy work on health and care integration, working closely with system leaders in local government, the NHS in London, UKHSA, OHID and the Greater London Authority. Working with partners, London Councils and health leaders have come together under the London Health and Care Vision, which makes becoming the world’s healthiest global City its ambition. Lisa plays a pivotal role in leading pan-London work to make the evolution of ICSs and borough-based partnerships successful vehicles for improving the health and wellbeing of Londoners and tackling health inequalities.