three leaders. one vision

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Visiting Professor of Healthcare Management, Kings Collage London.

Richard has over thirty years’ experience of health and social care workforce policy, delivery and research. He has previously worked as a policy advisor at Department of Health and Social Care (in its Widening Participation strategy unit between 2004-2006), as a Director of two research institutions, including the health and social care Institution of Vocational Learning and Workforce Research Unit at Bucks New University, which included social care employers and representatives on its board, and as an advisor to the Cavendish Review in 2013. 

Between 2013 and 2020 Richard worked, alongside Dawn Grant, with health and social care employers (and Skills for Care’s Regional Director) to implement workforce transformation including a common approach to introduction of the Care Certificate, development of new systems-based workforce supply pipelines, such as job brokerage and supported employment and systems-wide implementation of apprenticeships. 

Richard represented the NHS on the West London Alliance of council’s Employment and Skills Board helping to shape inclusive growth strategies for the area. His research and evaluation work, which since 2018 has been based at King’s Business School, King’s College London, has helped shape national NHS workforce policy, most recently with the development of the first national Allied Health Professions (AHP) support workforce.

Richard currently co-chairs the national NHS England AHP Support Workforce Expert Advisory Group. Richard is an economist and member of the Royal Economic Society. Full Orcid research profile is available on request.

Current research

• Member of the NIHR-funded research Steering Group, based at Sheffield Hallam University, investigating project to improve healthcare in rural, coastal and disadvantaged areas.
• Lead investigator of research commissioned by the Gatsby Foundation investigating the integration of T Levels into NHS and social care workforce planning and modelling progression pathways into entry-level employment and apprenticeships including in care settings.
• Survey-based research investigating Practice Educators in health and social care who are also support staff.
• Working with the national Aspirant Cancer Career and Education Development Programme modelling factors that will enable full implementation by employers and systems.

Skills: Research design, rapid evidence reviews, quantitative and qualitative and mixed methods, evaluation, academic rigour.

Health Care Support Worker Project Lead,  Dawn Grant Ltd.

Dawn is a senior workforce development leader and Registered Nurse with over forty years’ experience working across health and social care. She has held a range of senior workforce and education development roles, specialising in the design and delivery of end-to-end attraction, recruitment and onboarding pathways for unregistered roles across multiple care settings. 

Dawn works closely with senior leaders and managers to ensure workforce solutions are inclusive, timely, and responsive to service need.

Seconded to Health Education England, Dawn led the implementation of the Care Certificate across North West London in 2015. In 2018, she joined the national HEE team, establishing and leading the national Care Certificate Leads Network, supporting consistent and high-quality implementation across systems.

Working in close partnership with adult social care, NHS trusts, the voluntary sector and education providers, Dawn has championed best practice in the delivery and assessment of the Care Certificate. Through her collaborative and values-led approach, she brought care and health leaders together to co-create the Higher Development Award — a national personal and professional development programme for support workers across clinical, care and administrative roles. The programme focuses on recognising potential, enabling progression and supporting staff to thrive, while delivering tangible benefits for organisations and patient care. This work was recognised with a Nursing Times Workforce Award in 2020.

Dawn continues to work across systems to establish and sustain networks between employers, providers and education partners, supporting attraction, recruitment and workforce development. Across London, she has led the creation of a Functional Skills Network spanning English, maths, ESOL and digital skills. This collaboration has resulted in a standardised digital skills programme, jointly developed by employers and delivered through further education partners.

Selected achievements and areas of expertise include:

• Co-design of the Healthcare Support Worker Learning and Development Roadmap with King’s College London, informed by engagement with over 4,000 healthcare support workers nationally.
   
• National collaboration between health, social care and further education, including published work with the Association of Colleges and NHS Employers, supporting local workforce pathways through anchor institutions.
   
• Design and national delivery of the Higher Development Award, enabling system-wide collaboration between employers and FE colleges to provide a consistent development offer for support staff.
   
• Deep expertise in co-production, frontline engagement and inclusive practice.
   
• A strong commitment to innovation, collaboration, equality, diversity and inclusion, and widening participation.
   

Skills: Training design and delivery, values-based recruitment and job matching, qualitative research, co-production, workforce development, and stakeholder engagement.

Senior workforce leader & consultant John Patrick Gale Ltd

John has a career spanning frontline social work, system leadership, and national programme delivery across health and social care. His work focuses on translating workforce strategy into practical, scalable solutions that improve outcomes for staff, services, and the people they support.

John qualified as a social worker in 2009, working across multiple specialisms within Liverpool City Council before qualifying as a Practice Teacher in 2012. He was promoted to team leader of the city-wide learning disabilities service in 2013, later progressing into senior system leadership roles at Wirral Borough Council. There, he led integrated services and major service redesign across continuing healthcare, autism and learning disabilities, out-of-area placements, and transitions for people with complex needs, strengthening alignment between health and social care.

John currently holds a national leadership role within the NHS England Workforce, Training and Education directorate as part of the Aspirant Cancer Career and Education Development (ACCEND) programme. He leads on the Supportive and Assistive Workforce and is responsible for the development of the ACCEND Learning Hub, delivering structured, competency-based education and career pathways for cancer support workers, care coordinators, and healthcare assistants. His work includes leading the national ACCEND Workforce Survey, co-developed with Professor Richard Griffin, and overseeing the national rollout and evaluation of the Foundations of Cancer Care and Principles of Cancer Care programmes, demonstrating measurable improvements in workforce confidence, capability, recruitment, and retention.

Alongside his NHS England role, John works through his consultancy practice on national workforce transformation programmes. Recent work includes contributing to the NHS England Professional Bodies Education Reform Programme, commissioned by the Society and College of Radiographers, supporting the design and delivery of a national digital Support Worker Hub incorporating learning resources, webinars, podcasts, and workforce toolkits. His contribution to this programme was formally recognised by the Society for quality and impact.

John also worked as a senior consultant and subject matter expert on nationally commissioned digital transformation programmes, including the deployment of Dynamic Support Registers for people with learning disabilities and autism, improving multi-agency risk management, data quality, and information governance across systems.

John brings experience in programme leadership, workforce strategy, digital innovation, competency framework design, evaluation, governance, stakeholder engagement, and co-production. 

In 2024, the ACCEND Supportive and Assistive Programme Team, which John led, received the HSJ Workforce Initiative of the Year award, with the programme subsequently recognised as best practice within the NHS England Long Term Workforce Plan.