Baroness Kate Lampard CBE
Chair of the Inquiry
Baroness Lampard is the Chair to the Inquiry. Her appointment was announced by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Steve Barclay, on Monday 4 September 2023.
Baroness Lampard is a former barrister and has worked as an independent consultant undertaking investigations and management consultancy, primarily for public sector services. She is experienced in leading high-profile government reviews, including the NHS investigations into Jimmy Savile and investigations into the Borders, Immigration and Citizenship service. She undertook investigations into allegations of abuse at Yarls Wood and Brook House immigration removal centres.
Previously, Baroness Lampard has also been a non-executive Director at the Department of Health and Social Care and served on the board of the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation. Baroness Lampard has also been the Chair of South East Coast Strategic Health Authority, Vice Chair of the South of England Strategic Health Authority, Vice Chair of the Financial Ombudsman Service Limited, and acted as interim Chair of the Independent Advisory Panel on Deaths in Custody. She was Chair of Invicta NHS Trust.
Baroness Lampard was previously the Chair of GambleAware and is a trustee of the Royal Horticultural Society. She is also a member of the House of Lords.
Helen Gibson
Secretary to the Inquiry
Helen Gibson’s role is to support and advise the Chair, overseeing the efficient and effective running of the Inquiry to deliver a final report and set of recommendations.
A Senior Civil Servant, Helen brings extensive experience from a wide range of policy and operational roles she has held across different government departments and arms-length bodies. Helen’s career has included roles as Deputy Director, Medicines Supply at the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), where she led work to secure continuity of supply during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, and Deputy Director, Medicines Policy at NHS England.
She is experienced in leading multi-disciplinary teams to analyse, assess and develop solutions to address complex issues. Helen is committed to evidence-based policy making and is passionate about designing and delivering better public services for everyone, including the most vulnerable in our society.
Helen is supported by a dedicated Secretariat team.
Catherine Turtle
Solicitor to the Inquiry
Catherine Turtle is the legal advisor to the Inquiry. Her role is to advise the Chair and the Inquiry team on any legal issues which may arise.
Catherine has extensive experience of working with inquiry teams, stakeholders and witnesses and was previously Deputy Solicitor to the Undercover Policing Inquiry.
Catherine has a particular interest in mental health and in assisting the Inquiry in making workable recommendations to improve patient safety and care.
Nicholas Griffin KC
Counsel to the Inquiry
Nicholas Griffin KC has been appointed as Lead Counsel to the Inquiry. His role includes the presentation of evidence to the Inquiry, which he will do with his team of experienced barristers.
Nicholas has practised extensively in major public inquiries for over twenty years, leading teams of lawyers following events of public concern and sensitivity. He is head of the Inquests, Inquiries and Public Law team at his barristers’ chambers, and works in a wide variety of investigations and cases, including at the intersection of criminal and public law. He also has experience in a series of public and charity appointments.
Rebecca Harris KC
Counsel to the Inquiry
Rebecca Harris KC is a key figure in the Counsel team. Her role includes providing advice to the Chair and Inquiry team on matters of law, evidence and procedure, and assisting Lead Counsel in the presentation of evidence to the Inquiry.
Rebecca has extensive experience in crime, and regulatory law, working on high-profile and complex cases, particularly in healthcare. Rebecca appears regularly at inquests involving issues of clinical care and management. She undertakes independent investigations and reviews, and sits as a member of a specialist safeguarding panel in sport.
Rachel Troup
Counsel to the Inquiry
Rachel Troup is a key figure in the Counsel team. Her role includes providing advice to the Chair and Inquiry team on matters of law, evidence and procedure, and assisting Lead Counsel in the presentation of evidence to the Inquiry.
Rachel has substantial experience in criminal and regulatory law, as well as in complex investigations, inquests and public inquiries. She was lead junior counsel to the Grenfell Tower Inquiry.
Experts
Professor Christl Donnelly CBE, FRS, FMedSci
Professor Donnelly is the Professor of Applied Statistics at the University of Oxford. She is also an investigator in Oxford’s Pandemic Sciences Institute. She undertook her graduate studies in biostatistics at the Harvard School of Public Health. She has specialised in the analysis of outbreaks and epidemics using both statistical and biomathematical approaches to provide evidence to policymakers on the transmission of infectious diseases and potential options for their control. She has collaborated extensively with colleagues in the World Health Organization, the US Centres for Disease Control and the UK Health Security Agency. She has been recognised with election as a Fellow of the Royal Society and as a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences. She was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2018 New Years Honours for services to epidemiology and the control of infectious diseases.
The Inquiry’s Expert Health Statistician is assisting the Inquiry with the collection of a comprehensive List of Deceased and the analysis of data collected from the relevant Trusts and Independent Healthcare Providers. Their work sourcing denominator and corroboratory data, in particular, is vital and will allow the Inquiry to draw meaningful conclusions about patterns, risks and potential systemic issues. This will enable the Chair to develop clear and actionable recommendations that are related to mental health data.
Claire Barker, BSc, DipPsych, MSc, C.Psychol, AFBPsS
Claire is a HCPC Registered Psychologist and an Affiliate member of the British Psychological Society. Claire has been working public inquiries since 2018; previously as the Clinical Lead at The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) and subsequently at the UK Covid-19 Inquiry. Within both of these roles, Claire was involved in the design and development of trauma-informed support models and had responsibility for overseeing the provision of emotional support for those engaging with the Inquiry’s work. Claire has also provided advice to a number of other inquiries. Claire was the lead researcher for two research articles published in 2023, evaluating the impact of using a trauma-informed approach within a public inquiry. In 2022, Claire was a keynote speaker at the NOTA Conference, presenting the emerging themes of this research. Outside of her inquiry work, Claire continues to complete expert witness reports for the criminal Court and is a Specialist Member of the Parole Board for England and Wales.
As part of her work, Claire advises the Inquiry on the design and development of trauma-informed support models and is responsible for overseeing the provision of emotional support for those engaging with the Inquiry’s work.
Independent Assessors
The role of an Independent Assessor is to provide advice and subject area knowledge to the Chair of an Inquiry. Assessors are experts in their own field who provide expert knowledge, often on a recurring basis and as part of the Inquiry team, to help the Chair meet the Terms of Reference.
The purpose of such assessors within the Lampard Inquiry will include (but not be limited to):
- Supporting the Chair from a clinical perspective in her work, for example providing advice and information on particular clinical topics within their expertise.
- Undertaking relevant investigative work with the Inquiry team and informing decision making where appropriate. This may include providing a clinical expert view on whether care within any cases being investigated was safe and appropriate, and how care could have been improved.
- Providing advice and support regarding recommendations for the Chair’s final report.
Dr Nicola Goater
Dr Goater has worked as a Consultant Psychiatrist for over 20 years in areas including crisis, inpatient, intensive care, assessment and community teams. She has significant experience in Crisis Teams, establishing a team in 2003, and working on key research in the area.
She is currently the Responsible Officer for West London NHS Trust and works clinically in Early Intervention in Psychosis, as well as acute psychiatry. Dr Goater has worked as a Locality Clinical Lead, Clinical and Educational Supervisor, and Clinical Director. From 2019-2024 she was the Trust’s Deputy Chief Medical Officer and Caldicott Guardian as well as Chair of the Trust’s Mortality Review and Medicines Optimisation Groups. She acted as Chief Medical Officer for the Trust in 2020/21.
She wishes to use her knowledge and experience from Crisis and other clinical settings, at interfaces, in teams, organisational roles, and systems in order to contribute to this important process, and to learning.
Mick O’Driscoll
Mick is a retired Registered Mental (Health) Nurse (RMN) with 30 years’ experience of working in both junior and senior clinical roles within NHS acute adult mental health services. His various job roles as a staff nurse, matron, clinical nurse specialist, Associate Director of Nursing and Clinical Director, kept him close to the clinical area he most enjoyed – acute inpatient wards. He also developed and led the training of many nursing, medical and occupational therapy staff in his area of specialist interest – understanding suicidal behaviour and risk. In 2014 he was awarded an MBE for services to mental health nursing.
Mick considers there to be many contributing factors to the tragedy of suicides in mental health services. The scale and commitment of the Lampard Inquiry gives him hope for a greater understanding of how we make our services safer.
Dr Elizabeth Walker
Dr Walker qualified as a doctor at St George’s Hospital Medical School in 1995 and has worked as a psychiatrist since 1997. She has been a General Adult Consultant Psychiatrist, working in the North West of England, for the last 15 years. Her area of expertise is in continuity of care, having been responsible for the care of her patients through both community and hospital settings. She also plays an active role in medical education (e.g. training students and junior and senior doctors) and management.
Dr Walker is excited about having a role in this inquiry, in order to help improve mental health care for current and future patients and their families.
The Chair may wish to appoint additional assessors over the course of the Inquiry as she sees relevant.
The Inquiry has also published a protocol on the role and appointment of independent assessors which sets out further information.
