Commissioners

Professor of Palliative Medicine. Baroness Finlay of Llandaff is a practising consultant at Velindre Cancer Hospital, Cardiff, and Professor of Palliative Medicine at Cardiff University, where she was Vice-Dean of the School of Medicine until 2005. She was Welsh Woman of the Year 1996-97 and was created a Life Peer in 2001. From 2006 to 2008 she was President of the Royal Society of Medicine. In Parliament she chaired the Select Committee on Allergies in 2007 and has been active in a range of other health-related issues.

First elected in 2015, Rachael is the Member of Parliament for York Central. With a career in the NHS, working as a senior physiotherapist in ITU and acute medicine and as the Head of Health at Unite, Rachael continues to use her expertise in Westminster to progress healthcare and protect the NHS and is Vice Chair of the Health and Social Care Health Select Committee.

Chair of the Commission, and Previous National Cancer Director and CQC Chief Inspector.

Professor Sir Mike Richards was a hospital physician for more than 20 years. He was a consultant medical oncologist between 1986 and 1995, and Professor of Palliative Medicine at Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospitals between 1995 and 1999. In 1999 Sir Mike was appointed as the first National Cancer Director at the Department of Health. He led the development and implementation of the NHS Cancer Plan in 2000, the Cancer Reform Strategy in 2007 and Improving Outcomes: A strategy for cancer in 2011. He became the Care Quality Commission’s first Chief Inspector of Hospitals in July 2013 and led the development and implementation of a new approach to hospital inspection.

Charity Director of Age UK. A social scientist and barrister, Caroline has spent her career in the voluntary and public sectors, mostly on children and families’ issues. She has worked in a senior capacity at the children’s charity, Action For Children and at the Local Government Association. Caroline has also been a policy adviser to Ministers and Shadow Ministers, and a senior civil servant. A former chair of the End Child Poverty campaign, Caroline’s policy interests include integrated health and care, family policy, poverty and the role of the voluntary sector. Caroline oversees Age UK’s influencing work.

Dr Matt Brown is a Consultant in Pain Medicine, Head of the Department of Pain Medicine at the Royal Marsden Hospital, and an Honorary Associate Faculty Member at the Institute of Cancer Research. He has served on the Faculty of Pain Medicine’s Professional Standards Committee and is actively engaged in the development of policies and guidelines relevant to pain medicine practice in the United Kingdom.

He completed a Doctorate in Medicine at the Institute of Cancer Research, becoming the first pain specialist in the Institute’s history to achieve this distinction, and was awarded the Chairman’s Prize at graduation.

His research interests include persistent post-surgical pain, chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy, and interventional approaches to managing cancer pain.

Jane, Baroness Campbell of Surbiton, is an independent crossbench peer. She is a leading disability rights campaigner and has a distinguished career, furthering equality and human rights.

Jane graduated from Sussex University in 1982 and went on to have a successful career in Local Government and the 3rd sector before taking up a portfolio of NGO board positions. She was the founding Chair of the Social Care Institute for Excellence, Commissioner on the Disability Rights Commission and Equality and Human Rights Commission before becoming a life Peer in 2007.

Jane’s voluntary work includes trustee of Civil Liberties Trust, The Scott Morgan Foundation, Thames Inclusive River Boat project and President of PHAB.

Chief Executive, Together for Short Lives.

Nick took up the role as chief executive in 2024, after having been a senior leader at Together for Short Lives since 2019.

Prior to his role as chief executive, Nick led on our fundraising strategy and National Fundraising Scheme as Director of Fundraising, which supports the children’s hospice sector across the UK. He played a pivotal role in securing and delivering our incredible partnership with Morrisons, which raised over £10.7 million to support children’s hospices, help families of seriously children make precious memories together and enable Together for Short Lives to provide lifeline support.

Sarah was appointed as Consultant in Palliative Medicine at Royal Trinity Hospice and Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in London in 1998. She is an honorary consultant at Royal Hospital Chelsea (for the Chelsea Pensioners). She is Lead Medical Examiner at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital. Her clinical work is now focused in the acute hospital setting. She has a special interest in palliative care of non-malignant conditions including people living with HIV and patients on ICU. She has held leadership roles locally and regionally and is currently serving as President of the Association for Palliative Medicine of GB and Ireland. 

Former Health Minister. NHS Consultant Surgeon.

Prof the Lord Darzi of Denham holds the Paul Hamlyn Chair of Surgery at Imperial College London, the Royal Marsden Hospital and the Institute of Cancer Research. He is Director of the Institute of Global Health Innovation at Imperial College London and Chair of Imperial College Health Partners. He is an Honorary Consultant Surgeon at Imperial College Hospital NHS Trust.

He was knighted for his services in medicine and surgery in 2002. In 2007, he was introduced to the House of Lords and appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department of Health.

Professor Jugdeep Dhesi is the President of the British Geriatrics Society and a Consultant Geriatrician at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust. 

Through her work with the British Geriatrics Society, Jugdeep is committed to influencing policy and practice to improve health and social care for older people. She also contributes her expertise to numerous national steering and advisory groups.

In addition to these roles, Jugdeep is Professor of Geriatric Medicine at King’s College London and Deputy Director at the Centre for Perioperative Care. 

Over the past twenty years, Jugdeep has led the development of the award-winning Perioperative medicine for Older People undergoing Surgery (POPS) service, a pioneering initiative in the UK which is now implemented internationally. 

 Professor Catherine Evans is a senior clinical academic in palliative care and nursing. She is a Professor of Palliative Care and Ageing at the Cicely Saunders Institute, King’s College London, and Honorary Nurse Consultant in Palliative Care based at Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust. Catherine brings a wealth of expertise as one of a handful of clinical professors in community nursing and palliative care in the UK. She leads a major programme of research integrating palliative care into community health and care services for older people with multiple conditions, including dementia and frailty. She was appointed in 2024 as Director of the Cicely Saunders Institute (interim). In addition to these roles, she is a Deputy-Director of the King’s Clinical Academic Training Office and a Non-Executive Director for Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust. 

Stephanie Fraser is Chief Executive of Cerebral Palsy Scotland. She is Chair of the Scottish Government’s National Advisory Committee for Neurological Conditions and was a Trustee of the Neurological Alliance of Scotland for over 10 years.  
Stephanie sits on the board of two Public Bodies; Creative Scotland, the national funding agency for arts, film and creative industries and the British Library. A member of the House of Lords, she speaks regularly on issues that affect people with disabilities. She is currently a member of the Select Committee on International Relations and Defence. She has previously sat on the Communications and Digital, Covid 19 and the Adult Social Care Committees.

Clare is a Registered Nurse with 30 years’ experience in Palliative and End-of-Life Care (EoLC). She has worked in hospices, the community, and acute sectors as a Clinical Nurse Specialist, and nationally as a Consultant Nurse for the Gold Standards Framework and a Specialist Advisor for the CQC.

Clare founded Speak for Me which helps organisations to improve EoLC and provides professional and public education about Palliative and EoLC and Advance Care Planning. A passionate advocate for proactive Advance Care Planning, Clare hosts the popular podcast Conversations about Advance Care Planning and practices as a Lasting Power of Attorney Consultant.

Martin has had an extensive career in NGO development, both in the UK and internationally, and is Chief Executive of Care England, the largest representative body for independent social care services in the UK. He is a Trustee of the National Centre for Creative Health (NCCH), Vice President of The Care Workers Charity, Champion of The National Aids Trust and Commissioner of the Royal Hospital Chelsea. In 2013 he was appointed Visiting Professor of Social Care to Buckinghamshire New University. In 2012, in his role as Department of Health and Social Care Independent Sector Dementia Champion, he led the development of the Dementia Care and Support Compact for The Prime Minister’s Challenge on Dementia.

 Karen has almost 50 years’ experience in nursing mostly in dementia care in a variety of settings and contexts. For the past 20 years, she has worked with the charity, Dementia UK, initially as a Consultant admiral Nurse then the Director of Admiral Nursing and more recently has become the Head of Research and Publications for Admiral Nursing and Dementia UK.  She gained a PhD at University College London focusing on advance care planning and end of life care in dementia.  Karen was a committee member on both NICE dementia guidelines and prior to this also worked in partnership with the NCPC to campaign of palliative and end of life to be considered in the first national dementia strategy for England. 

Professor Irene Higginson is currently Professor of Palliative Care and Policy and Director of Better Health and Care Futures at King’s College London.

She is a clinical academic, active in research, education and clinical palliative care and is trained and accredited in both Public Health and in Palliative Medicine. Based at the Cicely Saunders Institute, King’s College London - the world’s first purpose-built Institute of palliative care, integrating research, education, clinical services, support and information – Professor Higginson is also the Scientific Director of Cicely Saunders International (a charity) and an NIHR Senior Investigator (emeritus).

Sarah was appointed Chief Medical Officer of Marie Curie in April 2023 and continues to undertake some clinical work at our Bradford hospice.

Sarah originally joined Marie Curie in 2001 working at the Edinburgh hospice as a junior doctor, having initially pursued a career in General Practice. The experience working in Edinburgh inspired her to retrain in palliative medicine, and she became Consultant in Palliative Medicine and Medical Director of Marie Curie Hospice, Bradford in 2007. In July 2020, Sarah became UK Medical Director for Marie Curie, and combined this role with her ongoing clinical work in the hospice in Bradford.

Chris was appointed as Consultant in Neurologist at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals in 2006 where he co-leads the motor neurone disease service.  He is Professor of Translational Neurology at the Sheffield Institute for Translational Neuroscience within the University of Sheffield. He leads a research programme developing the evidence base for improving care and treatments for people living with motor neurone disease. He holds several national leadership roles including co-director of the UK MND research Institute.

Toby joined Hospice UK as its Chief Executive in September 2022. Prior to his appointment, he led Acorns Children’s Hospice as Chief Executive from 2016, guiding the West Midlands-based charity and its children’s hospice care service through the unprecedented challenges of the COVID 19 pandemic.

Toby brings to the role a wealth of senior leadership experience across a wide range of organisations in the charity sector. Prior to joining the hospice sector, Toby was Chief Executive at HelpAge International, the secretariat to a global network of civil society organisations working with and for older people; in that position, he was invited to join the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Global Agenda Council on Population Ageing.

 Consultant in Palliative Medicine.

Prof Julia Riley is a Consultant in Palliative Medicine at The Royal Marsden and the Royal Brompton Hospital, Visiting Professor of Palliative Medicine & End of Life Care, Institute of Global Health Innovation, Imperial College, London. She is also a member of the London Cancer Alliance Palliative Care Pathway Group, Editor of the European Journal of Palliative Care (the journal of the European Association for Palliative Care), andTrustee of St John & Elizabeth’s Hospital and Hospice.

Professor Riley's research interests are the inter-individual variation in patients’ response to opioids, and the development of models of end-of-life care

James joined Sue Ryder as Chief Executive in August 2024. His previous role was the National Director of Community Health Services, Personalised Care, and Palliative and End of Life Care at NHS England, where he had responsibility to deliver tailored healthcare services that met patients’ individual needs and preferences. James is committed to transforming health and care systems, fostering collaboration across sectors, and driving forward initiatives that improve quality of care. He wants to create a more compassionate, responsive, and efficient healthcare system that can adapt to the evolving needs of the population.

British barrister and former High Court judge.

From 1978, Dame Caroline practised as a barrister. Appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1993, she specialised in catastrophic brain injury and industrial disease cases, mainly representing claimants. From 2001-2005, she was Leading Counsel to the Shipman Inquiry.

In 2005, she was appointed a High Court Judge, trying primarily civil cases involving claims for serious injuries and disease.

For six years, she headed the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service which organises and conducts disciplinary hearings involving doctors.

She is currently a Legal Trustee of the Thalidomide Trust which provides financial and other support for people living with disabilities caused by the drug thalidomide.

Professor Bee Wee CBE is a Consultant in Palliative Medicine at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Fellow of Harris Manchester College, Oxford University. She was National Clinical Director for Palliative and End of Life Care at NHS England between 2013-2023, providing strategic leadership for palliative and end of life care across England. She brings extensive experience of collaborative working with commissioners, providers and practitioners, across the NHS, social care and third sector, and with people with lived experience. As part of her multidisciplinary clinical team, she provides specialist palliative care for people in the community, hospice and hospital.