Alex Mears Email & Phone Number

London

Healthcare Consulting (HC) is part of the bespoke support offer from the Royal Free, and provides high quality consultancy advice and support to clients across the care landscape in London and beyond. The scope of work undertaken by HC is flexible, bespoke and designed to best meet the changing needs of our customers and the wider NHS system in the highest quality way. The types of activities undertaken include but are not limited to end to end project design and project management, diagnostic ‘deep dives’, major change initiatives, benchmarking and analysis, facilitating workshops and improving business processes and patient pathways. in addition to my role as a consultant and programme manager, I also provide an expert research and methodology resource, and help to develop the team’s offer around educational products. As part of my recent work, I have been lead PMO for a large-scale, Londonwide digital mental health service development programme. As such, I have been trained in agile project management and scrum, and also have an excellent knowledge of current digital initiatives in the health sector and beyond.

London Ec2

My team provides central support to the external facing contracting teams, with specialist advice, legal interpretation and tracking of contract development progress. This is a crucial function, ensuring that the contracts for all 12 of our core CCGs are delivered in a timely manner. In addition, my team is also responsible for developing a broad and deep understanding of the provider landscape in the CSU's patch, looking to improve care delivery through the support of strategic policy drivers such as integrated care and Any Qualified Provider.

The ILSI has an innovative portfolio of award-winning educational products, at the leading edge of the use of state-of-the-art technology and pedagogy, as well as a range of health service research. As director, my remit includes the operational management of a team of 8 academic staff as well as guiding the strategic direction of the team, and cementing and enhancing its reputation for excellence both within the University and in the health research and education community more broadly. My role also includes academic responsibilities in the form of curriculum and content development, teaching, supervision of masters’ and doctoral students and the undertaking of key research. I also have a key role as a senior manager within the faculty, sit on all of the key decision-making bodies, and chair the Faculty Research Ethics Committee.

On 1st April 2009, the Healthcare Commission, Commission for Social Care Inspection and the Mental Health Act Commission were subsumed into a new super-regulator, the Care Quality Commission. My previous role as Measurement Policy Lead became Measurement Policy Manager, the overall aims similar, but with a much wider remit, covering the range of worlds of health, social care and all parts between. This has required a higher degree of broader thought to consider the different measurement challenges facing the different care information spheres, and to bring these together to form a cohesive measurement approach for the regulator. In addition, I was also involved with a Europe- wide regulatory working group, and represented CQC on a number of national projects and initiatives. I was also leading a project to streamline and rationalise CQC’s needs with regard to academic and grey literature.

Use of numerical measures was central to the Commission’s role as the regulator of healthcare, and my role was to lead the organisation’s thinking in the use of measurement for assessment of performance and as a driver for improvement. This influential, strategic assistant-director level post drove forward the theory and philosophy of measurement, making best use of the latest research and thinking, adapting to the world of regulation. The post involved liaison with high-level stakeholders from within the Commission and externally from academia, government and other key organisations.

I worked as Guideline Implementation Research Fellow with the National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health (funded by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence to produce clinical practice guidelines). I provided end-to-end management of short, time-limited research projects that centre around implications of guideline implementation for mental health. I oversaw data collection and collation, as well as undertaking data analyses and project report-writing. Additionally, I led on liaison with the Healthcare Commission on measurement of guideline implementation and compliance.

In November 2003, I joined South Essex Partnership, a 3-star Mental Health (now Foundation) Trust covering the southern part of Essex. My role was extensive, reporting directly to the Deputy Director for the area. It covered operational responsibility for training, education and workforce wellbeing within the Trust, as well as inputting into the strategic decision-making process for the Trust workforce. I managed a team of more than 20, sat on numerous Trust and county-wide committees and groups, and had responsibility for a budget in excess of £1.5m pa.

Project Lead: Workforce Planning Research Team, Royal College of Psychiatrists’ Research Unit. From mid 2001 to late 2003, I was project lead for a programme of research investigating workforce planning issues in mental health services, funded from a variety of sources. I managed 2 members of staff (a Research Worker and a Research Assistant) and had responsibility for a budget in excess of £120,000 pa. Prior to 2001, I was a Research Worker, leading a project looking at the use legislation in young people with mental illness.

Phd, Psychology

Activities and Societies: Jury Nullification: a psycholegal approach

Postgraduate Certificate In Higher Education (Pgche), Higher Education

Activities and Societies: - Chair of Faculty Research Ethics Committee - University Research Ethics CommitteePostGraduate certificate.

Msc, Psychological Research Methods

Bar Vocational Course, Barrister

Activities and Societies: Gray's Inn RFCVery competent in Commercial Law and Advocacy

Llb, Law

Activities and Societies: Exeter Phantoms RFC Psychology Society Student theatre