Healthcare Workforce Consultancy: Meet Our Team

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Visiting Professor of Healthcare Management at King’s College London, Richard has over thirty years of experience in health and social care workforce policy, delivery, and research. He has previously served as a policy advisor at the Department of Health and Social Care, specifically within its Widening Participation strategy unit from 2004 to 2006. Richard has also held the position of Director at two research institutions, including the Health and Social Care Institution of Vocational Learning and Workforce Research Unit at Bucks New University, which actively involved social care consultancy and included employers and representatives on its board. Additionally, he contributed as an advisor to the Cavendish Review in 2013. Between 2013 and 2020, Richard collaborated with Dawn Grant and health and social care employers, alongside Skills for Care’s Regional Director, to implement workforce development initiatives. These included a unified approach to the introduction of the Care Certificate, the establishment of new systems-based workforce supply pipelines, such as job brokerage and supported employment, and the comprehensive implementation of apprenticeships across the sector. Richard represented the NHS on the West London Alliance of Council’s Employment and Skills Board, playing a key role in shaping inclusive growth strategies for the community. His research and evaluation efforts, based at King’s Business School since 2018, have significantly influenced national NHS workforce policy, most recently aiding in the creation of the first national Allied Health Professions (AHP) support workforce. Currently, Richard co-chairs the national NHS England AHP Support Workforce Expert Advisory Group and is an economist and member of the Royal Economic Society. A full Orcid research profile is available upon request. His current research includes being a member of the NIHR-funded research Steering Group at Sheffield Hallam University, which investigates projects aimed at improving healthcare in rural, coastal, and disadvantaged areas. He is the lead investigator for research commissioned by the Gatsby Foundation focused on the integration of T Levels into NHS and social care workforce planning and modeling progression pathways into entry-level employment and apprenticeships in care settings. Additionally, he conducts survey-based research on Practice Educators in health and social care who also serve as support staff. Richard is also working with the national Aspirant Cancer Career and Education Development Programme to model factors that will facilitate full implementation by employers and systems. His skills encompass research design, rapid evidence reviews, quantitative and qualitative mixed methods, evaluation, and academic rigor.

Health Care Support Worker Project Lead, Dawn Grant Ltd. Dawn is a senior workforce development leader and Registered Nurse with over forty years of experience in health and social care consultancy. She has held various senior roles focused on workforce and education development, specializing in the design and delivery of end-to-end attraction, recruitment, and onboarding pathways for healthcare support workers across multiple care settings. Dawn collaborates closely with senior leaders and managers to ensure workforce solutions are inclusive, timely, and responsive to service needs. In 2015, she was seconded to Health Education England, where she led the implementation of the Care Certificate across North West London. By 2018, she joined the national HEE team, establishing and leading the national Care Certificate Leads Network to support consistent and high-quality implementation across various systems. Working in partnership with adult social care, NHS trusts, the voluntary sector, and education providers, Dawn has championed best practices in the delivery and assessment of the Care Certificate. Through her collaborative and values-led approach, she united care and health leaders to co-create the Higher Development Award—a national personal and professional development program for support workers in clinical, care, and administrative roles. This program emphasizes recognizing potential, enabling progression, and supporting staff to thrive, yielding tangible benefits for organizations and patient care. Her efforts were recognized 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 that spans English, maths, ESOL, and digital skills. This collaboration has resulted in a standardized digital skills program, 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, 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 and consultant, John Patrick Gale Ltd, has built a career that encompasses frontline social work, system leadership, and national programme delivery across health and social care. His focus lies in translating workforce strategy into practical, scalable solutions that enhance outcomes for staff, services, and the individuals they support, particularly in the realm of healthcare support workers. John qualified as a social worker in 2009, gaining experience across various specialisms within Liverpool City Council before becoming a Practice Teacher in 2012. He advanced to team leader of the city-wide learning disabilities service in 2013 and later took on senior system leadership roles at Wirral Borough Council, where he directed integrated services and significant service redesign across continuing healthcare, autism and learning disabilities, out-of-area placements, and transitions for people with complex needs, thereby strengthening the alignment between health and social care. Currently, John holds a national leadership position within the NHS England Workforce, Training and Education directorate, where he is part of the Aspirant Cancer Career and Education Development (ACCEND) programme. He leads efforts around the Supportive and Assistive Workforce and is responsible for developing the ACCEND Learning Hub, which provides structured, competency-based education and career pathways for healthcare support workers, care coordinators, and healthcare assistants. His responsibilities include 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, which demonstrate measurable improvements in workforce confidence, capability, recruitment, and retention. In addition to his role at NHS England, John leverages his expertise through his social care consultancy, working on national workforce transformation programmes. His recent contributions include participating in the NHS England Professional Bodies Education Reform Programme, commissioned by the Society and College of Radiographers, where he supported the design and delivery of a national digital Support Worker Hub that includes learning resources, webinars, podcasts, and workforce toolkits. This significant contribution was formally recognized by the Society for its quality and impact. John has also served as a senior consultant and subject matter expert on nationally commissioned digital transformation projects, such as the implementation of Dynamic Support Registers for individuals with learning disabilities and autism, which enhance multi-agency risk management, data quality, and information governance across systems. With a wealth of experience in programme leadership, workforce development, digital innovation, competency framework design, evaluation, governance, stakeholder engagement, and co-production, John’s work in 2024 led the ACCEND Supportive and Assistive Programme Team to win the HSJ Workforce Initiative of the Year award, with the programme being recognized as best practice within the NHS England Long Term Workforce Plan.