Key leaders from the care and support community have been asked to help lead discussions on six broad themes:
Quality – Imelda Redmond CBE
As Chief Executive of Carers UK Imelda Redmond CBE is responsible for ensuring carers have a voice. Imelda Redmond has had a lifelong commitment to improving the lives of disabled people and their families. Prior to joining Carers UK she ran family support services for children with disabilities and she is currently vice-chair of disabled children’s charity Contact-a-Family. She is also a Non Executive Director of the Homerton University Trust and a Governor of a City Academy.
Personalisation of Care – Jeremy Hughes
Jeremy Hughes joined the Alzheimer’s Society as Chief Executive in 2010, after nearly six years as Chief Executive at Breakthrough Breast Cancer. Prior to this, Jeremy was Head of External Affairs at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, following on from a role as Director of Marketing and Income Generation at The British Red Cross. Jeremy is currently a Trustee of Sightsavers; Chair of National Voices, the umbrella health and social care charity; and a Board Member of the NHS National Leadership Council.
Personalisation of care reference group
Integration – Geoff Alltimes and Dr Robert Varnam
Geoff Alltimes has been Chief Executive of Hammersmith and Fulham Council since 2002, having previously been the Director of Social Services and the honorary secretary of the Association of Directors of Social Services. From April 2009 until October 2010, Geoff was the joint Chief Executive leading a single integrated Executive Management Team serving NHS Hammersmith and Fulham and the council. He is also the secretary of the London Councils Chief Executives Committee.
Robert Varnham is a GP in inner city Manchester. He has been involved in local NHS leadership and service design for several years and is an Honorary Lecturer at the University of Manchester. He is a quality improvement trainer at the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement, and an experienced international speaker to issues of leadership, clinical engagement, service improvement and patient safety. More recently, he helped establish the Royal College of GPs Centre for Commissioning and now designs programmes to support clinical commissioning groups.
Prevention and early intervention – Alex Fox
Alex Fox is CEO of SharedLivesPlus (formerly NAAPS), the UK network of small, family and community-based care and support solutions for older and disabled people, including Shared Lives, Homeshare and micro-enterprise. Alex sits on the Standing Commission on Carers and the National Programme Board for Think Local, Act Personal. He is a board member of the Health Hotel collaboration of health organisations and a member of the editorial board of Working with Older People and the Journal of Integrated Care. He is a visiting lecturer at Nottingham University.
Read Alex’s monthly Community care column and blog or follow Alex on Twitter.
Prevention and early intervention reference group
Diverse and responsive care market – Peter Hay
Peter Hay is Strategic Director – Adults and Communities for Birmingham City Council and President of the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS) for 2011/12. He is also Chair of Research and Practice for Adults (RiPfA). Peter’s current responsibilities include adult social care and adult learning, alongside the strategic leadership for the city in public health and its work on the health and wellbeing partnership.
Diverse and responsive markets reference group
The role of financial services – Nick Kirwan
Nick Kirwan has been Assistant Director of Health and Protection at the Association of British Insurers (ABI) for four years. His career covers 28 years in financial services and before joining ABI he spent three years as Protection Market Director with Scottish Widows, and immediately before that, ten years with the Abbey (now Santander) Group. Nick was named Health Insurance Personality of the Year for 2007 for his work in promoting the industry.
In December we will ask the six discussion leaders to bring together the views they have gathered on support for the Commission’s proposals, and the wider priorities for change. This will influence next steps and inform the Government’s White Paper, and progress report on funding reform, planned for spring 2012.
