Janet Davies has been an Executive Director of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) since September 2005 and has the strategic lead for nursing and service delivery to its members.

She heads a number of departments: Nursing, Learning & Development, Employment Relations, Policy & International, Members Support Services and RCN Direct. In addition, Janet is chair of the Management Board of the National Clinical Guidance Centre of NICE and chair of HQIP (Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership). She is also an executive member of the European Federation of Public Service Unions.

Previous to joining the RCN, Janet had a long career as a nurse within the NHS. She was Director of Nursing in West Lancashire and Liverpool and Chief Executive of Mersey Regional Ambulance Service.


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Earl Howe has been Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Department of Health since May 2010.

Educated at Rugby School and Christ Church, Oxford, Lord Howe began his career in Barclays Bank and served in a number of managerial and senior managerial posts both overseas and in London. In 1987 he was appointed London director of Adam & Company, the Scottish-based private bank, where he remained until 1990.

He is married with three daughters and a son.

In 1991 Lord Howe became a government whip in the House of Lords and following the General Election of 1992 he was appointed Parliamentary Secretary (Lords) at the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. In 1995 he became Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Ministry of Defence, a post he relinquished at the 1997 General Election.

Between 1997 and 2010 he was opposition spokesman for Health and Social Services in the House of Lords. He is an elected hereditary peer under the provisions of the House of Lords Act 1999. Apart from his front bench responsibilities, Earl Howe has previously been a member of the all-party groups on penal affairs, abuse investigations, pharmaceuticals, adoption, mental health and epilepsy.

Presentation: Putting the Q in QIPP

Some have suggested tensions between the efficiency savings demanded by QIPP and the need to improve quality. Efficiencies must be achieved, not by cutting services, but by discovering better models of caring for people.

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Gillian Leng is the Deputy Chief Executive at NICE, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, and an Honorary Senior Lecturer at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Gillian trained in medicine at Leeds, and then spent several years researching the epidemiology of peripheral vascular disease at Edinburgh University. She was involved in the Cochrane Collaboration as it first became established, and still contributes as an editor to the Effective Practice and Organisation of Care (EPOC) Group. She specialised in public health medicine, and worked as a consultant before moving to NICE in 1991.

At NICE, Gillian has been responsible for the initial set up and running of the clinical guidelines programme, for establishing the NICE implementation function, and for setting up NHS Evidence. More recently she has been responsible for the transfer of the National Prescribing Centre into NICE, for establishing the NICE accreditation programme, and for new work on Quality Standards across health and social care.

Presentation: What does quality care look like?

NICE quality standards are central to supporting the government's vision for an NHS focused on delivering the best possible outcomes for patients. They set out aspirational, but achievable, markers of high-quality, cost-effective patient care, covering the treatment and prevention of different diseases and conditions.

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Julie Wood's NHS career, spanning 30 years, focused on service development and innovation in primary care and commissioning, the last 16 years at Director/Chief Executive levels within health authorities, PCG/Ts. She now combines her national roles with the NHS Alliance and NHS Clinical Commissioners with healthcare policy consultancy activities, supporting commissioning and innovation with local health communities and national/international healthcare related organisations.

As part of her national roles, Julie is also heavily involved in working at the centre of detailed policy development and implementation with the Department of Health and NHS Commissioning Board and the other four main primary care organisations, particularly in relation to clinical commissioning within a 'liberated NHS'.

Julie has had many articles published and most recently has published work with the King's Fund and the Nuffield Trust with the NHS Alliance on clinical commissioning and improving the quality of commissioning of primary care.

Presentation: Clinical commissioning in action: improving services for patients

Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) are making a difference to their patients. Many of them already have good stories to tell about the positive impact clinical engagement is having on the ground, particularly improvements to patient care and experience.

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George Walker is founder and CEO of Workdocx. As a business and technology leader he has successfully delivered quality and performance change to public & private sector organisations in the UK and Europe, ranging from niche solutions to enterprise architecture deployments.

George's involvement in delivering public sector solutions for complex contingent workforces was the catalyst for the development of Workdocx, a unique, innovative, response to the increasing cost, risk, and regulatory complexity of temporary workforce management in the NHS and other sectors.

Presentation: Aligning quality objectives with workforce efficiencies

Delivering workforce efficiencies doesn't have to mean a reduction in staffing levels. Workdocx apply innovative community networking solutions to help reduce the cost of bank, locum and temporary staff, returning budget to patient services.

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Jeremy Taylor is chief executive of National Voices, the national coalition of health and care charities for England. He joined the organisation in 2009 - a year after its launch - and has been building its impact and visibility as a major voice for patients, service users, carers and their representatives. He is one of only three voluntary sector leaders to appear in the Health Service Journal's latest list of 100 people with the greatest influence in health policy and the NHS.

Jeremy is a member of the NHS Future Forum, the expert independent panel which has advised the Coalition Government on its health reforms and on the future of the NHS Constitution. He is also a panel member of the Caldicott 2 review, taking a fresh look at the rules for protecting and sharing confidential patient data.

A former senior Treasury official, Jeremy has previously been Executive Director of Groundwork East London, an environmental charity, and head of research at Social Enterprise UK.


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David Black MA MBA FRCP FAcadMEd, has been a Consultant Physician in Geriatric Medicine at Queen Mary's Hospital, Sidcup, since 1987 and was Medical Director from 1997 to 2003. He was Honorary Secretary of the British Geriatrics Society (BGS), then Chair of the Joint BGS/RCP Geriatrics Committee and elected Chair of the England Council of the BGS in 2003.

A member of the External Reference Group for developing the National Service Framework, he was the geriatrician representative on the National Older People's Task Force. His interests include day hospitals, intermediate care and chronic disease management.

As a medical manager and educationalist, David has been interested in induction, mentoring, and the day-to-day application of clinical governance. In 2002 he was elected as a Director of the British Association of Medical Managers (BAMM), elected Chair of the Board 2007-09. He was appointed as an associate member to the 'Fitness to Practice' directorate of the General Medical Council from 2001-05. 2010-12 he was appointed assessor to Robert Francis for the mid-Staffordshire inquiry.

Previously an Associate Dean with the London Deanery responsible for professional performance in secondary care, David was appointed in October 2004 as Dean Director of Postgraduate Medical and Dental Education for the Kent, Surrey and Sussex Deanery. He is national Lead Dean for Medical Oncology, Clinical Oncology, Allergy, Stroke and Geriatric Medicine. He has recently been elected senior censor and vice-president for education and training of the Royal College of Physicians, was previously an elected councillor and trustee and has been an examiner since 1999. In 2011/12 he chaired and ran the national pilot for trainee revalidation.

An honorary Chair in Medical Education in the Brighton and Sussex Medical School was awarded in 2005.

Presentation: Medical education and patient safety

Doctors in postgraduate training are present 24/7, visit all parts of a hospital and bring recent experience from other organisations. Senior NHS managers, both clinical and non-clinical, should be using the trainee voice as a significant patient safety tool and clinical improvement opportunity. This talk will include education quality management, and the trainee voice in postgraduate medical education, as a perspective on the Robert Francis Inquiry.

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Miranda Carter's role as Executive Director of Assessment at Monitor covers the assessment and authorisation of applicants for NHS foundation trust status, risk assessing significant transactions undertaken by NHS foundation trusts and developing assessment policy. In 2010, Miranda led the work to enhance Monitor's approach to assessing quality governance at applicant trusts through the development of a quality governance framework.

A qualified chartered accountant, Miranda started her career at Deloitte as an auditor in 1991, working in the UK and Hong Kong. In 1997 Miranda joined PricewaterhouseCoopers, and spent four years in the Transaction Services Department in London, focusing on due diligence assignments. She has advised the boards of corporate and private equity houses. Her portfolio of financial experience is wide-ranging and includes mergers and acquisitions, due diligence and initial public offerings (IPOs).

Presentation: Quality governance



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Jill Finney has spent her entire career in marketing and communications spanning a number of industries, both in the public and private sector. She spent the early part of her career in the food manufacturing and distribution industry and then joined Ernst & Young as their UK Marketing Director, serving on the company's Global Marketing Council.

Before joining CQC, Jill was the Strategic Marketing and Communications Director for the British Library, where she led the successful opening and running of the award-winning Business and Intellectual Property Centre, which services 60,000 entrepreneurs a year. This venture developed the profile of the British Library into a completely new market, helping small and medium enterprises across Britain. During this time, she was also a member of the Advisory Council for Libraries.

Jill joined CQC in March 2009 and leads the Strategic Marketing and Communications directorate, which includes marketing, communications, press and public affairs.


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Frances Blunden is senior policy manager at the NHS Confederation, the independent membership organisation which represents the full range of organisations that make up the modern NHS. Frances currently leads NHS Confederation work on regulation, quality, safety, informatics, and a future vision for health.

Frances has extensive experience of research, policy and campaigning on health and other key consumer issues across a range of organisations, including Government and the voluntary sector. Prior to joining the NHS Confederation, she was principal policy adviser at Which? (the largest consumer organisation in Europe) leading their policy and research work and campaigning on health issues.

Frances is currently a member of the National Information Governance Board, a statutory committee providing guidance on the use of personal data within the health and social care services.


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Peter Carter OBE is Chief Executive and General Secretary of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), the world's largest professional union of nurses. The RCN has a membership of over 400,000 nurses, midwives, health visitors, nursing students, cadets and healthcare assistants.

Before assuming the post of RCN General Secretary in January 2007, Peter spent almost 12 years as the Chief Executive of the Central and North West London Mental Health NHS Trust, one of the largest mental health trusts in the UK with an operating budget of over £200m and an international reputation.

Peter is a graduate, and a member, of the Chartered Institute of Personnel. He also has a Master's degree in business administration and a PhD – both from the University of Birmingham. He was awarded the OBE for services to the NHS in the 2006 New Year's Honours.

He is a visiting professor at the Florence Nightingale School of Nursing and Midwifery at King's College London and Anglia Ruskin University.


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