Our Team

Tutu is a business strategist and leadership coach. She has over 20 years of strategic leadership and management experience including working with public sector procurers and commissioners to support equitable approaches to commissioning small and minoritised enterprises.

Claire has a background in nursing with experience that includes hands-on care delivery as well as the management and professional development of community nursing teams. Claire has worked on a wide range of projects across adult health and social care, with a particular focus on service reviews, transformation and redesign.

Simon is a qualitative research professional with 25 years’ experience of conducting and coordinating social and policy research for the public, private and tertiary sectors. He has recruited and moderated focus groups, co-ordinated public engagement exercises and conducted depth interviews in the UK and overseas, in person and remotely.

Rosie is a qualified social worker and currently completing her training to qualify as a family and systemic psychotherapist. She has worked in a wide range of social work roles, including in adult care, mental health and out of hours social services and practised as an Approved Mental Health Professional and a Best Interests Assessor. Her PhD explored the operation of power in assessments under the Mental Health Act 1983,combining her professional and academic expertise.

Lynda is qualified social worker and an experienced local authority senior manager with over 30 years’ experience of working in statutory social care. She has been an assistant director with prime responsibility for children’s services and has been the corporate director of adult social services alongside responsibility for an extensive range of community services.

Peter has an extensive track record of work for care providers, including work on safeguarding, contingency planning and investigations, as well as operational management. He has wide ranging knowledge of all parts of the adult social care provider sector.

Sue is a qualified and registered social work professional who has a long history in local government and social care. Before joining IPC Sue worked in a variety of roles and most recently as a Statutory Corporate Director of Social Services and Wellbeing for a Welsh local authority.

Gerry is a qualified social worker with extensive experience in strategic commissioning, change management, and partnership development. He has a broad range of experience in local authority, NHS and third sector settings.

Di is an experienced commissioner with a deep knowledge and understanding of health and social care system architecture at national, regional and local level.

Di has worked in the NHS and social care and has extensive skills in personalisation, co-production and commissioning.

Marisa specialises in organisational development and change consultancy. She is a Qualified Social Worker with over 30 years’ experience working across the voluntary, private, and public sectors. She has a keen interest in organisational life, leadership, performance, and wellbeing.

Caroline has over thirty years’ experience in children’s services within local authorities in both strategic and operational roles. Her expertise ranges from early help services through to safeguarding systems as well as managing an early year’s special educational needs team. Holding a PhD, Caroline was Vice Principal of an FE college, and has a background in supporting maintained and independent educational institutions to reduce inequalities.

Jonathan has extensive experience and expertise in leading and coordinating high level policy and research analysis, project management, performance management, business development and campaigning activity on behalf of organisations working within the health and social care sector.

Colin is an experienced former director of children’s services (DCS) and qualified social worker with a special interest in children’s social care and safeguarding. He has an excellent grasp of the broader children’s agenda.

Elise supports many of IPC’s applied research projects. She co-ordinates the helpline support for people participating in our evaluations, including regular telephone contact with carers and families, providing them with support to participate in our surveys, focus groups and interviews.

Amy has significant operational and strategic experience working within the public and third sectors, supporting Public Health functions (including substance misuse, sexual health and mental health), housing support and adult and children social services. Her previous roles in England and Wales focused on commissioning and working to ensure the best possible outcomes for families and wider communities.

Melanie is a health and social care researcher with considerable experience of health and social care integration and the interface between services, particularly in areas such as hospital discharge, continuing health care, and self funders. She has particular interests in qualitative research; understanding people’s experiences and giving a voice to their stories.

Åsa is a social work professional who has occupied a variety of social care roles in both local and central government. She has significant senior management experience in children’s services with a strong track record of staff development and service transformation.

Dr Tom Jefford is a qualified social worker with a history of managing youth offending services and evidence based interventions such as Multi Systemic Therapy and Functional Family Therapy. Tom’s interests include implementation science and children’s services. Tom has experience of providing services within social outcome contracts.

David has over 25 years’ experience working in the NHS at leadership level over a range of portfolios, particularly in change programme leadership, integration, and the commissioning of mental health services.

Amy is a qualified social worker who has had a range of management experience working in local authority children’s services and the charity sector, varying from youth justice, child sexual exploitation and child protection to managing early help services and commissioning.

Caryl is an experienced researcher, undertaking a wide range of social research, evaluation work and training for local, regional and national organisations. An associate consultant with IPC since 2020, Caryl has a background in service transformation, managing change, customer care and complaint investigations in a social care setting. She has 15 years’ experience of working as a senior manager across children and adult social care, community development and implementing the Social Care and Wellbeing Act (Wales) 2014.

Dr Steph Lyons has significant experience of working within the health and social care sector in both adult’s and children’s services. Steph’s previous roles have encompassed front line delivery as an assistant youth support worker and as a Service Manager of a countywide homelessness prevention service. She has also worked at a strategic level as a Programme Manager.

Ellie has experience in a range of applied research and evaluation projects including undertaking literature reviews and designing surveys. She has helped to design and analyse the results of surveys in areas ranging from young people’s transitions to adulthood to adult social care management and decision-making of commissioners in children’s service.

Robert worked as a front-line practitioner and senior manager in multi-disciplinary services for 40 years, before becoming a freelance consultant in 2011. He has a professional background in children’s health and social care operations, policy and service development. Robert has held assignments in DfE England Innovation Project (EIP) authorities to support the implementation of children’s safeguarding, Signs of Safety, Restorative Practice and Trauma Informed approaches.

Paul has worked as an Associate at IPC since 2009. With many years’ experience, he has worked with local authority members, senior managers and health professionals on a wide range of consultancy projects as well as tutoring on the University’s accredited postgraduate course in commissioning and purchasing as well as our Team Manager Development Programme.

Graeme brings over twenty years’ experience in local and regional government, and in the voluntary and community sectors, to his role at the Institute of Public Care. Graeme leads and delivers a range of organisational change and development programmes, with a particular focus on commissioning and market shaping.

Mick is an experienced and effective consultant who has been a senior manager in various roles across the sector. He is a qualified social worker who has worked for local authorities and the NHS and he was the professional social care advisor for the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). Mick is a Visiting Knowledge Transfer Fellow with the University.

Mark is a qualified social worker and has particular expertise in commissioning. Commercially and politically aware, he brings a solid understanding of current legislation plus many years’ experience in senior management positions within children’s services.

Keith has many years of experience in leading evaluation, development and implementation projects, and 10 years of health and social care management and practice. He is a regular speaker at national conferences, and plays advisory roles for governments, national bodies, local authority and NHS partners. His particular interests centre around system leadership, governance, commissioning and service quality.

Mary has over 30 years’ experience of working in children’s social care. For 15 years she was a senior manager within local authorities and the NHS. Her experience covers youth justice, leaving care and CAMHS, as well as being influential in the development of early help services. She is skilled in partnership working and was the chair of an All Wales group of managers liaising regularly with the Welsh Government influencing services for children in the Youth Justice system.

Philip is an experienced manager of complex change programmes and has led a wide range of service re-design projects, often requiring some integration with other organisations. He provides expert, longer-term support relating to health and social care to members of our Academic Partnership programme.

Judith is a qualified social worker and an experienced leader and manager. She is a former Director of People’s Services, having held the statutory roles of both DCS and DASS. Before becoming a DCS, she worked in London local authorities within statutory children’s services as well as being a strategic commissioning manager working across social care, schools and the health economy to improve outcomes.

Simon is a qualified teacher and has experience working in education and social care for the last 18 years.

Paul’s particular strengths lie in strategy development, service review and improvement, value chain design, partnership development and outcomes-based contracting. He has over 30 years’ experience across a range of sectors to improve outcomes, manage commercial risks, and reduce costs.

Sarah is a solution-focused professional with considerable experience of health and social care commissioning in both NHS and local government. Sarah has delivered commissioning functions including procurement, performance management and service improvement, system review, needs analysis and transformation.

Lynne’s had a rich and varied career in education as a specialist teacher, school leader, local authority and national strategy consultant, teacher trainer and leadership coach. She works on a range of projects aimed at improving provision and support for children with special educational needs and their families.

Narinder has significant operational and strategic experience working in the Public Sector including roles within Social Care, Education and Scrutiny. Prior to joining IPC, Narinder was the Head of Strategic Commissioning at Birmingham Children’s Trust undertaking needs analysis, Sufficiency Planning and developing commissioning intentions for a range of children’s support services.

Zandrea is a qualified executive coach, senior integrated manager and maintains her social work registration. She has specialised in the development and management of integrated and systemic working, with a focus on developing improved outcomes and quality through strength based practices, partnership and co production.

Vivien is a qualified social worker and has also worked as a children’s commissioning manager for health, leading on all aspects of children’s services commissioning and joint strategic service planning.

Richard is a highly experienced leader with over 35 years of knowledge working in a range of disciplines including adult social care, human resource management, workforce development and organisational development.

Agnes holds a PhD in Community Care from the University of Kent. She is a social researcher with 15 years’ academic experience at UK universities and has recently joined IPC bringing with her a wealth of experience.

Chris has over 24 years’ experience working across the public and voluntary sector in the fields of health and social care, commissioning and community development. He is passionate about self-directed support and finding ways to make commissioning systems more personalised.

Sally has over 25 years of professional experience at a senior level, within the adult services sector. She specialised in the housing sector, where she operationally and strategically led on the management and development of housing and services for older people, the homeless and care leavers.

John is a qualified social worker with over 30 years experience including leadership roles in commissioning and organisational transformation. Since joining IPC in 2021 John has worked on projects in both adults and children’s social care focusing particularly on market shaping.

Donna is an interdisciplinary researcher with nearly 20 years of experience in both public and private sector settings. Donna’s work has informed policy and practice change at the local, regional and national level. She holds a PhD and has global research experience in three different continents.

Sue has over 30 years’ experience of working in a variety of educational settings including management and teaching in mainstream and alternative school settings, university lecturing and consultancy. She has particular strengths in accessing stakeholder perspectives to support service evaluations.