Caroline Abrahams is Charity Director at Age UK, where she has now worked for more than a decade. She manages the influencing functions at Age UK including policy, public affairs and campaigns, and is Age UK’s lead media spokesperson. As well as being a member of the NHS Assembly she is also one of the 3 co-chairs of the Care and Support Alliance, which brings together 60+ charities and not for profits to campaign for decent social care for all.

Previously, Caroline worked in central government and Opposition, the Local Government Association and the children’s charity, Action for Children. She was awarded a CBE for services to older people and to the voluntary sector in 2021.

Katerina joined CMI in 2017 and her previous roles at CMI have seen her develop CMI’s professional standards, apprenticeships, qualifications, and charterships; ensuring they remain relevant for all audiences and reflect CMI’s latest thought leadership. Prior to joining CMI, Katerina worked in FE and was an L&D Trainer for a large corporate company. She is a Chartered Fellow at CMI. Outside of work, Katerina volunteers in her local community and is a member of the Parish Church Council in her village.

Jeanette Dickson was elected as Chair of the AoMRC from July 2023. She remains a practicing consultant clinical oncologist.

Jeanette previously served as President of the Royal Colleges of Radiologists from 2019 to 2022. Between July 2020 and August 2022, she was Vice Chair of AoMRC with responsibility for the educational portfolio.

In 2020, Jeanette joined the clinical advisory group of the United Kingdom Lung Cancer Coalition (UKLCC). In 2022, she acted as special advisor to the Expert Panel of the Health and Care Select Committee evaluating the Governments commitments to cancer services in England.

Caroline Fryar joined the MDU as a medico-legal adviser in 2006. Previously, she was a GP in Cheshire. During her career she has worked as a clinical risk manager before heading up the Medical Advisory department at the MDU from 2014-2022. Most recently she served as Director of Medical Services before becoming Professional Services Director in April 2024, leading a department of professional colleagues: doctors, dentists and lawyers – serving frontline healthcare professionals, day-in, day-out. Caroline plays a central role in the MDU’s engagement with external stakeholders and is a key spokesperson.

With over 20 years of NHS Board experience, Marie Gabriel is currently the Chair of the NHS North East London Integrated Care System, Chair of the NHS Race and Health Observatory and an Associate NED for the UK Health Security Agency. She is also a Commissioner on the IPPR Commission on Health and Prosperity.

Regionally, Marie is Co-Chair of the London People Board and is a member of the Greater London Authority’s London Health Board, where she is also the London Mayor’s Champion for Tackling Structural Racism. Marie contributes to her local community as a Trustee on two charities, West Ham United Foundation and East London Business Alliance. Her previous Chair role was at East London NHS Foundation Trust.

Clare Gerada is a general practitioner to her patients in South London, where she has worked for more than 34 years. In addition, she has held several national leadership roles, including both the Chair and President of the Royal College of GPs, the second woman in its history to hold both positions.

She set up and led until 2021 the award-winning mental health service for health practitioners, NHS Practitioner Health. She has now set up and leads the Primary Care Gambling Service, a unique GP-led multidisciplinary service straddling the primary, secondary and third sectors. She was awarded an MBE in 2000 for her services to drug misuse, and a Dame hood in 2020 for services to mental health.

Sam Haq joined NHS England as Director of Public Accountability, Communications and Engagement in November 2022.

Before this, Sam spent almost 20 years at ITV News working on home and foreign news, before joining their political team in Westminster.

She joined the Civil Service in 2017, becoming the head of news at the Ministry of Justice, dealing with the prison and probation service and victims of crime.

Catherine Johnstone became Chief Executive of Royal Voluntary Service in 2017 and is vice-chair of the Richmond Group of Charities. She is a former nurse and has a wealth of experience garnered over 25 years in the third sector, including acting as CEO of several other not for profit organisations. In 2016, Catherine was appointed CBE for her services to suicide prevention following her tenure as CEO of Samaritans.

Catherine is a passionate champion of volunteering and the benefits it offers individuals, communities, and the nation. She is co-founder of the Big Help Out; a campaign which seeks to get more people socially and civically engaged in activities which improve their communities.

Jacob Lant joined National Voices as Chief Executive in May 2023. He is a committed advocate for working with people accessing health and care services and the wider public to help improve the accessibility and quality of the care they receive.

Prior to working for National Voices, Jacob spent almost 10 years helping to build the Healthwatch network. In this time, he led successful nationwide policy influencing campaigns on a huge variety of topics, from maternal mental health services to access to NHS dentistry.

Anthony leads CMI’s policy and external affairs, overseeing its research, policy, and external relations. He is an award winning policy and social innovator. Before joining the CMI, Anthony served as the Chief Research & Impact Officer at the Royal Society for the Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA). He led their social change remit, which focused on examining the future of work, education, lifelong learning, and economic security. A published author and presenter, Anthony was awarded a Think Tank of the Year Award by Prospect Magazine for his work on policy and social innovation. Among other roles, he was previously the Vice Chair of Governors of Hackney Community College.

Helga Pile is Acting Head of Health at UNISON, the UK’s major public services union. UNISON is the largest health union with nearly half a million members working in and with the NHS.

Helga is the staff-side Chair of the NHS Social Partnership Forum for England and the NHS Staff Council. Helga has worked for UNISON since 2006, latterly in the health department and previously as the union’s lead for social care.

Helga has previously worked for the GMB trade union, the Low Pay Unit, and industrial relations publishers Incomes Data Services.

Rachel joined the Patients Association as Chief Executive in 2017and has led changes in the charity, resulting in a more engaged membership and an increase in profile for the Patients Association and its goal of embedding patient partnership in the design and delivery of health and care services.

In 2023, she was invited by the English Patient Safety Commissioner to join her advisory group and be a member of the Martha’s Rule working group. She sits on the NHS Assembly and is also a member of the National Data Advisory Group, Personalised Care Institute Steering Group, and NHS England’s Patient Choice Steering Group, among other memberships.

Stephen Powis is the National Medical Director of NHS England and Professor of Renal Medicine at University College London.

Previously he was Medical Director (and latterly Group Chief Medical Officer) of the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust from 2006 to 2018. Professor Powis was also a member of the governing body of Merton Clinical Commissioning Group for five years and a Director of Healthcare Services Laboratories LLP.

He is a past Chairman of the Association of UK Universities (AUKUH) Medical Directors Group and has been a member of numerous national committees and working groups, including the Department of Health Strategic Education Funding Expert Group.

Thomas Reynolds joined the MDU in 2020, initially as Head of Governmental Relations, before taking on an expanded role for all of the organisation’s policy work and strategic communications.

Before joining the MDU he worked for the Medical Protection Society between 2014 and 2020. As a former parliamentary assistant in the House of Commons, Tom has an extensive network in Westminster. At the MDU, he is responsible for the organisations outreach and relationships with government, parliamentarians and stakeholders across the NHS and beyond: regulators, medical royal colleges, unions and others.

Jagtar Singh is the chair of Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust. Jagtar started his public service life in the West Midlands Fire Service in 1977 and retired as deputy chief fire officer in 2005. In 2001, Jagtar was the first BAME person to be appointed to the highest position on the Fire Service as Acting Chief Fire Officer.

In 2023, Jagtar’s work on health and workforce inequalities was recognised by Warwick University with the award of professor. The same year, he was awarded a lifetime achievement award from one of the largest staff networks in the NHS and was for the fourth year recognised as one of the top 50 BAME NHS leaders.

Matthew Taylor joined the NHS Confederation as its chief executive in June 2021, having been chief executive of the Royal Society for Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA) for 15 years.

Before the RSA, Matthew was chief adviser on political strategy to Prime Minister Tony Blair and he also ran the Institute for Public Policy Research for 5 years.

Matthew was commissioned by the government in 2016 to carry out an independent review into modern employment practices. Matthew presents the podcast series ‘Health on the Line’ for the NHS Confederation.

Sarah is the Chief Executive of The King’s Fund, an independent think tank working to improve health and care across England. Previously, Sarah was the Chief Executive of Asthma + Lung UK, the national respiratory charity, having overseen the merger of the two leading lung health charities, where she developed a new strategy, brand and successful operating model.

Sarah spent more than 15 years at Cancer Research UK in a range of senior policy and executive board roles, and is a previous non-executive and trustee of Bliss, the special care baby charity, Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), the Association of Medical Research Charities (AMRC), and the National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI).Sarah is a current trustee of MQ: Transforming Mental Health, and a member of Telstra Health UK’s Advisory Council.