Liz Padmore
Chairwoman

Liz has extensive experience at Board level in private, public and not-for-profit sectors.

Throughout her career, she has specialised in scenario planning, strategic communications, CSR and relationship management. She was previously a strategy partner at Accenture creating and running their global strategic think tank.

Currently, Liz is Chairwoman of the British Red Cross; Chairwoman of Housing Solutions; Chairwoman of the Staff College (Leadership in Healthcare); a Governor and member of the Council of Management of the Ditchley Foundation; a Barclay Fellow at Green Templeton College ,Oxford where she chairs the Renumeration Committee; and she chairs the Remuneration Committee of Brasenose College, Oxford.

Previously, Liz chaired Hampshire Hospitals NHS FT for nine years and is a B member of YBI (Prince of Wales’ Youth Business International) having been a trustee for over 10 years.
Liz is also a member and previous vice chair of IWF UK; a member of Women Corporate Directors and an elected FRSA (Fellow of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts Manufacturing and Commerce).

Liz read both Philosophy, Politics and Economics and Jurisprudence at Brasenose College, Oxford.

Ajit Abraham
Principal, Staff College, Consultant HPB & Trauma Surgeon, Barts Health and Barts Health Executive Group Director for Inclusion and Equity

Mr Ajit ABRAHAM MBBS, MS, MA (Medical Ethics & Law), FRCS, FRCS (General Surgery) is a Consultant General, Trauma & HPB Surgeon at the Royal London Hospital, Barts Health.
At Barts Health, he has held a number of strategic leadership positions including Executive CAG Director for Surgery 2014-16, Chair of the Boards of Surgery & Cancer 2017-18, and Barts Health Deputy Chief Medical Officer 2016-18.

On surgical sabbatical 2018-19, he re-established and led the HPB surgical service at Khoo Teck Puat Hospital, Singapore delivering open and minimally invasive hepato-biliary and pancreatic surgical care to the local population.

Ajit has a special interest in clinical leadership, equity and inclusion, quality improvement, patient safety and education. He has an MA in Medical Ethics & Law from Keele University, UK, 2004. He was Health Foundation QI Fellow at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement and Harvard from 2011-12. He has been Principal of Staff College since 2016.

He is an Honorary Senior Clinical Lecturer at Queen Mary University London and was appointed the Barts Health Undergraduate Dean in 2020. Ajit was appointed as the first Barts Health Executive Group Director for Inclusion and Equity in April 2022, having co-chaired the Barts Health Group Inclusion Board with Group CEO, Dame Alwen Williams.

He has a longstanding ‘Hatha Vinyasa’ Yoga and ‘Vipassana’ meditation practice.

Alex Bax
CEO, Pathway

Alex has worked to improve health and social care in London for many years. He is founding Chief Executive of Pathway – the homeless health charity created by Prof Aidan Halligan. He is also visiting fellow at the Institute of Health and Human Development at the University of East London and Chair of inequality campaign group My Fair London. He has been a senior policy advisor to two Mayor’s of London: on health, city planning and social policy. He has a Masters in London Studies, is a member of Faculty for Public Health, Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and founder member of the Faculty for Homeless and Inclusion Health.

Brigadier Greville Bibby CBE
Clerk to the Worshipful Company of Grocers

Greville brings over 30 years military experience to the NHS Staff College. He has held leadership roles throughout his career which has seen him serve on military operations in Northern Ireland, Iraq and Afghanistan. In 2009 he spent 9 months as Deputy Commander of the UK Task Force in Helmand for which he was awarded the CBE.

He is a graduate of the Army Staff College and spent two years as an instructor at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst. He has held a variety of appointments including a total of five years in the Army’s career management department and three years as principal staff officer to the Head of Army Personnel.

Professor John Earis
Deputy Chair, Staff College and Director of Clinical Quality, University of Liverpool

Professor Earis trained at the Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine in London and has spent most of his working life in the North West. In 1982 he was appointed as a Chest and General Physician at University Hospital Aintree in Liverpool and led the development of Aintree Chest Centre, which is now widely recognised for its clinical innovation and research. As well as his clinical practice and research interests John has been closely involved with undergraduate and postgraduate education. In the 1990s he set up the respiratory medicine training programme in Mersey Deanery and in 2007 he was appointed as Director of Medical Education and Undergraduate Sub-Dean at Aintree. When he retired from Aintree in 2015 he became the Director of Quality for the School of Medicine in Liverpool introducing new quality assurance and evaluation systems to the undergraduate course. He has recently retired from this position but continues to work for the Undergraduate School.

He was made an Honorary Professor at Liverpool University in 2007 and in 2019 was awarded the title of Emeritus Professor. In 2016 he was delighted to be appointed Honorary Colonel of 208 Reserve Field Hospital (Army Medical Service). In 2013, working with Professor Aidan Halligan, John facilitated Staff College activities in the North West. Following Aidan’s untimely death John became Acting Principal of Staff College and continues his close association with Staff College as a Trustee and Deputy Chair of the Board of Trustees.

Caroline Laurie
Vice President of Responsibility, Burberry

Caroline is Vice President of Responsibility at Burberry leading the corporate responsibility agenda covering carbon and biodiversity, sustainable sourcing and materials, human rights and social impact, community and climate change.

Prior to this she was the Group Head of Sustainability at Kingfisher plc where she led the sustainability strategy across the business, driving the delivery of sustainable wood and paper sourcing and reforestation projects such as the Harapan rainforest in Indonesia. Caroline is a CIMA qualified accountant and joined the Kingfisher team in 2005, starting out as a buyer at B&Q she gained first-hand experience of ethical and sustainable sourcing for wood and paper products. Following a promotion to category manager she was instrumental in the decision to remove all gas patio heaters from sale across B&Q stores nationwide and later went on to help customers reduce their home energy use through intelligent product developments and installed solutions. Caroline has a passion for sailing and in her spare time you’ll often find her cruising and racing on the Solent.

Tracey Westley
Independent Training Facilitator

Tracey is an independent training facilitator and management consultant who has nearly forty years of experience in the NHS holding a variety of nursing roles in both acute and most recently community NHS Trust settings. Roles include good governance through effective risk management and quality improvement, with overall responsibility for clinical policy, clinical audit implementation and CQC compliance.

Tracey believes in teamwork and bringing together the strengths of people and networks to provide compassionate leadership resulting in improved patient safety and a positive experience of services.

She holds a Masters in Public Administration, a Post Graduate Diploma in Risk Management with an enquiring mind believes in continued development and provides mentorship to nurses developing senior roles in the workplace.