Our People

David Rowland

Director

David Rowland was appointed as CHPI’s first Director in 2019 after over a decade of working in senior policy positions within the healthcare regulatory sector.

He has played a key role within healthcare professional regulation as the Head of Policy at 3 national regulators (The General Social Care Council, The General Dental Council and The General Optical Council) and has developed significant expertise in social care policy, NHS workforce issues, regulation, safeguarding, whistleblowing and EU health policy.

He has also been involved in the development of the CHPI since its inception in 2011, committing significant amounts of his spare time to building the Centre and working with its Executive Management Team to develop a research strategy, build the Centre’s profile in the media and in Parliament, and raise funds.

Prior to working in healthcare regulation David was a research fellow at the School of Public Policy, University College London where he undertook research on the Private Finance Initiative and social care markets with Professor Allyson Pollock and Professor Colin Leys. He also worked with Professor Scott Greer on a series of Nuffield Trust funded projects which examined EU health policy, the management of the NHS and Communicable Disease Control administration.

He has used his academic expertise as well as his experience of developing national policy on healthcare regulation to add to the Centre’s research output and has been responsible with Colin Leys for leading the Centre’s work on patient safety in private hospitals and with Vivek Kotecha on the Private Finance Initiative.

Download a full CV [PDF]

Sid Ryan

Researcher

Sid Ryan is a health policy researcher and journalist with a specialism in information law.

Sid holds a degree in biochemistry and pharmacology from Bristol University, and an MA in investigative journalism from City University. He has worked for journalism and research organisations such as Request Initiative, the Centre for Investigative Journalism and the local news group The Bristol Cable.

Part of his investigative journalism has focused on the Private Finance Initiative, and how that impacts the finances, capacity and public accountability of the NHS.

He is also a specialist in information law. In addition to working in information governance teams within local authorities and the NHS he has also made over a dozen successful appeals under the Freedom of Information Act to the to the Information Commissioner and represented himself at four cases before the Information Rights Tribunal. He has put this specialist knowledge and experience to good use by teaching information law and has worked on a number of NHS campaigns.

He can be reached at [email protected].

Gabrielle Clarke

Fundraising Co-Ordinator

Gabrielle joined the team in July 2023, bringing with her a wealth of fundraising experience gained in small charities working with marginalised communities in the UK, Greece and the Middle East. Gabrielle is responsible for developing our supporter engagement strategies to allow as many people as possible to engage with and be part of the work of CHPI.

Most recently, Gabrielle has worked in health projects, where she helped to raise funds to ensure the longevity of outreach programs supporting refugees and asylum seekers. Gabrielle has experience in online fundraising strategies, stewardship and grant fundraising alongside digital marketing skills.

Gabrielle can be contacted at [email protected].

Dr Jonathon Tomlinson

Chair

Jonathon Tomlinson is a full-time GP in Hackney, East London. He is a GP trainer and undergraduate tutor with special interests in ‘Poverty Medicine’, shame, trauma and education. He writes a blog about the relationships between doctors, patients and health policy at abetternhs.net.

Sue Charteris

Deputy Chair

Sue Charteris is a leadership coach to charity leaders and social entrepreneurs. An experienced public service leader and charity non-executive, Sue is also a Trustee of the Syrian Refugee Relief Fund. Formerly Vice-Chair of UnLtd, the Foundation for Social Entrepreneurs and co-founding director of the Shared Intelligence consultancy, Sue has particular interests in addressing health inequalities in primary care and giving voice to people with learning disabilities.

Professor Colin Leys

Colin is an emeritus professor at Queen’s University, Canada, and an honorary research professor at Goldsmiths, University of London. He is the author or co-author of twenty books and since 2000 has written extensively on health policy and is co-author with Stewart Player of Confuse and Conceal: the NHS and Independent Sector Treatment Centres. His most recent article is ‘The English NHS:  from market failure to trust, professionalism and democracy’, in Critical Times: Soundings 64, Winter 2016.

Dr Guddi Singh

Guddi is a Paediatrician at the The Whittington Hospital in London. She has a Masters degree in Public Health from Harvard University and has worked for the World Health Organization.

Lois Rogers

Lois is an award-winning international journalist and communications advisor specialising in healthcare, life sciences and public policy. She was previously health and social affairs editor of The Sunday Times in London and has been a freelance contributor to newspapers, magazines, scientific journals, think tanks and public sector bodies in Britain and abroad. Her specialism is the art of translating complex scientific or policy information into attention-grabbing messaging that are readily understood and adapted with specific audiences in mind.

Emma Watkins

Emma is a Managing Director at the insurance firm Scottish Widows, where she is responsible for executing the firm’s retirement strategy and leads on later-life propositions. Prior to joining Scottish Widows, Emma was a partner at a leading pension consultancy and before that held a number of senior positions at other pension and insurance companies, with over 25 years’ experience in the finance industry. With a degree in Microbiology and Biochemistry, and a family history of NHS workers, Emma uses her strategic and financial skills and experience to support the CHPI Board.

Dr Charles Clarke

Dr Charles Clarke is a general Consultant Neurologist with interests in high altitude medicine and cold injury. He has been in consultant practice since 1979, initially at St Bartholomew’s Hospital, London and later at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London. Dr Clarke retired from the NHS in 2006 and remains in practice, now predominantly medico-legal, in many areas of neurology and reports on c. 150 new cases annually. Further to this, he also has interests in mountaineering, exploration, high altitude, cold injury, sailing, and the environment.

Sir Richard Thompson

Sir Richard Thompson studied medicine at Oxford University, specialising in gastroenterology to which he has conducted research on throughout his career. From 1993 until 2005, Sir Richard Thompson is well known for being head of of the Medical Household of Elizabeth II. He received a knighthood in 2003, when he became KCVO. From 2010 he went on to become the President of the Royal College of Physicians.