Our Team

Meet our experienced and diverse team

Directors

Professor Fiona Richardson

Director

Fiona leads the IPC team as Director. She is a very experienced consultant who leads applied research and evaluations, service improvement projects and training programmes for national and local government, health organisations, care providers and the voluntary and community sector. Fiona regularly publishes papers, articles and reports, and is a frequent speaker at national conferences and events. Her specific areas of expertise include commissioning, organisational learning and development, and the use of digital technology and data protection in care.

Professor Katy Burch

Assistant Director

Katy is part of the IPC management team and leads on applied research and evaluation for the Institute. Formerly a child care lawyer, she has extensive knowledge of children and families services across the UK. Katy has many years’ experience of leading evaluation, review and consultancy support for national government, local authorities and voluntary sector organisations.

Lucy Asquith

Assistant Director

Lucy is part of the IPC management team and leads the Institute’s Academic Partnership programme. She is an experienced public sector management consultant, with a long track record in the fields of health, social care and housing. Her consultancy skills include evaluation, feasibility studies, needs assessments, options appraisals, as well as involvement, facilitation and co-production expertise.

Consultants

Tutu Adebiyi

Associate Consultant

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.

Dr Mamdooh Alzyood

Associate Consultant

Mamdooh specialises in infection prevention control practices with ten years of research experience in health and life sciences. His PhD focused on exploring experiences from patients concerning prompting staff handwashing in the hospital settings. He has an extensive range of experience in working with partners, particularly health colleagues.

Claire Basden

Associate Consultant

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 Bradley

Associate Consultant

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.

Dr Rosie Buckland 

Associate Consultant

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 Bull

Associate Consultant

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 Cheer

Associate Consultant

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 Cooper

Associate Consultant

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 Davidson

Knowledge Transfer Fellow

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 Domenico

Associate Consultant

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 Douglas

Associate Consultant

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.

Dr Caroline Dowson

Senior Consultant

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 Gardam

Visiting Research Fellow

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 Green

Knowledge Transfer Fellow

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 Halford

Research Assistant

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 Harmsworth

Senior Consultant

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.

John Hedge

Associate Consultant

John has worked on a wide range of social care projects including evaluative work, engagement projects plus capacity building with voluntary community sector organisations.

Dr Melanie Henwood

Visiting Research Fellow

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 Johnsson Humphries

Associate Consultant

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

Associate Consultant

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 Jobbins

Associate Consultant

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.

Amy Johnson

Associate Consultant

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.

Helen Lancaster

Associate Consultant

Helen is a market and social research professional with over 25 years’ experience conducting research in the public, private and third sector. She is both a quantitative and qualitative researcher with expertise in all types of research methodology, sampling, questionnaire design, focus group moderation, interviewing, and data analysis, interpretation and reporting.

Caryl Lewis

Associate Consultant

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

Senior Consultant

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 Macey

Assistant Consultant

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 Maragh

Associate Consultant

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 McGloin

Knowledge Transfer Fellow

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 McLaren

Associate Consultant

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 Mellors

Knowledge Transfer Fellow

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 Molloy

Associate Consultant

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.

Professor Keith Moultrie

Emeritus Professor

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.

Philip Provenzano

Associate Consultant

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 Ramsden

Associate Consultant

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 Riggs

Associate Consultant

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

Paul Riley

Associate Consultant

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 Roberts

Associate Consultant

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 Robson

Associate Consultant

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 Saggu

Senior Consultant

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 Stewart

Associate Consultant

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 Taylor

Knowledge Transfer Fellow

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 Timms

Associate Consultant

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.

Dr Agnes Turnpenny

Consultant

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 Watson

Associate Consultant

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 Wilcox

Associate Consultant

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 Wilkinson

Visiting Research Fellow

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.

Dr Donna Winston

Associate Consultant

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.

Dr Sue Wise

Associate Consultant

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.

Support Team

Andrew Backinsell

IT Analyst

Andrew is an IT and video specialist whose work has a strong focus on bespoke software system planning and development, testing, implementation and support. He has also used his video background to produce multi-media materials for clients.

Emma Beal

Office Administrator

Emma organises our Oxford office. Besides being the first point of contact for clients, she supplies administrative support to IPC consultants and associates as well as co-ordinating conferences and other events throughout the year.

Lynne Bennett

Programme Administrator

Lynne is a member of the Administrative Team based at Oxford Brookes University, working alongside Sasha Carter, to provide administration for the accredited training and development programmes.

Sasha Carter

Programme Administrator

Sasha is responsible for providing the comprehensive administration behind our portfolio of accredited training and development programmes. Her role encompasses, for each course, every part of the Oxford Brookes University accreditation process.

Quentin Edwards

Business Manager

Quentin oversees the Institute’s finances, contracts and the administration team. He has a successful track record of managing finance and improving office processes in both large and small organisations.

Alison Harrold

Marketing and Business Development Officer

With deep experience in business-to-business marketing and helping high growth SME’s to deliver at pace, Alison manages our digital presence and brand development.

Julie Latta

Finance Administrator

A member of our administrative team, Julie is responsible for a variety of finance procedures – including purchasing processes, sales invoicing and credit control – and the monitoring and reconciliation of university financial reports.

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To receive our newsletter & gain access to our publications, please add your details below and select areas of interest. If you've done this before, you will see this prompt if you've deleted or don't collect browser cookies, or it's been more than a year since you've visited this page.

We will always store your personal details securely. We will never sell your contact details to another organisation and never share your data with other organisations for marketing purposes. You can opt-out at any time.

Subject Areas of Interest
Marketing Permissions
Please select all the ways you would like to hear from Institute of Public Care:

By submitting this form, you agree to be contacted in relation to News, Resources, and Updates. You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. For information about our privacy practices, please view our Privacy Policy.

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