Health and Social Care Committee Appoints Palliative Care Specialists to its Independent Expert Panel

The Health and Social Care Committee has appointed five new specialists to its Expert Panel.

The specialists will work alongside the core members of the Expert Panel, chaired by Professor Dame Jane Dacre, as it undertakes an evaluation into the state of palliative care in England.

The Health and Social Care Committee established the Expert Panel to conduct independent evaluations of Government commitments in different areas of healthcare policy and enhance Committee scrutiny of the Government. Each evaluation leads to a published Report.

The five new members are:
• Anita Hayes, Clinical Quality Lead at Hospice UK
• Professor Vic Rayner OBE, Chair at Global Ageing Network and CEO at National Care Forum
• Dr Michael Tatterton, Chief nursing officer at Bluebell Wood Children’s Hospice and Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Bradford
• Dr Sam Royston, Executive Director for Research and Policy at Marie Curie UK
• Dr Sabrina Bajwah, Honorary Consultant Palliative Medicine at King’s Health Partners and Clinical Reader at Cicely Saunders Institute

The Expert Panel is chaired by Professor Dame Jane Dacre, Professor of Medical Education at University College London, former Director of the UCL Medical School, a consultant physician and rheumatologist, and a former President of the Royal College of Physicians.

The Panel’s core members are:
• Professor Emma Cave
• Anita Charlesworth CBE
• Sir Robert Francis QC
• Sir David Pearson, and
Professor Stephen Peckham