Our staff

Harry Cayton CBE was appointed as our Chief Executive in August 2007.

Harry was formerly National Director for Patients & the Public at the Department of Health. From 1992 to 2003 he was Chief Executive of the Alzheimer’s Society and from 1981-1992 Director of the National Deaf Children’s Society. He has served on many public and voluntary committees and chaired independent reviews for the Department of Health.

Harry is a trustee of Comic Relief and chair of its UK grants committee. He is Patron of Arts4Dementia.

He was awarded the OBE in 2001 for services to people with dementia. He received the Alzheimer Europe Award in 2004, and was Distinguished Graduate of the University of Ulster 2005. In 2007 he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Royal College of Psychiatrists and a Fellowship through Distinction from the Faculty of Public Health. He was awarded the CBE in 2014 for services to health care and regulation reform.

Christine is our Director of Standards and Policy. She leads our team responsible for providing advice on regulation, setting standards, developing research and encouraging learning and debate. She is also our external relations lead.

Christine has previously worked as Head of Investigations and Enforcement at the Care Quality Commission and headed the Healthcare Commission’s healthcare infection inspection programme. She also worked for the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman. She holds a masters in law.

Christine is currently a member of a research and ethics committee for the Health Research Authority and sits as a lay panel member on the Bar Standards Board’s professional conduct committee.

Mark is our Director of Scrutiny and Quality. He leads our team responsible for scrutinising the work of the nine regulators of health and care professionals. Through this work, they identify and share good practice.

Mark has worked predominantly in the legal field. He started his career in what was then the Lord Chancellor’s Department before joining the Bar Council. He led the Council’s complaints and regulatory work before becoming the first Director of the Bar Standards Board.  Between 2008 and 2015, he was Director of Legal Policy at the Law Society of England and Wales.

John is our Director of Governance and Operations. He leads the team responsible for our corporate services providing support including finance, human resources (HR), information and communication technology (ICT) and governance. John’s background encompasses both change and operational delivery roles including transformations, business planning and risk management. He started his career in local government and was previously Head of Corporate Business Planning for the General Medical Council, before providing governance consultancy to the North West London Collaboration of Clinical Commissioning Groups.