Our Chair
Patrick has lived in north Lambeth for over 15 years but his association with the borough goes back to the early 90’s when he was a manager at Guy’s and St Thomas’s. He has a 38-year service record in the NHS and joined Healthwatch seeking to help address the inequalities that exist in both access and experience of the NHS for some parts of our community. His last role was Director of Innovation, Digital and Transformation at Health Education England, the training and education body for the NHS. He has held senior roles at the Department of Health, St George’s Healthcare and Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Trust. He also worked for PwC in their California practice in San Francisco.
His interests lie in workforce development and in particular how organisations can better utilise the skills and capabilities of all the healthcare professions. He brings an expertise in how digital technologies impact on the NHS workforce and the resulting education & training implications having overseen the widely acclaimed Topol Review, led by Dr Eric Topol of the Scripps Institute in San Diego.
Patrick has recently stepped down as Vice Chair of Framework, a large homeless charity covering the East Midlands, and continues to have an interest in this area, including the causes of homelessness and how we overcome them to provide people with safe homes. He also holds an Honorary Professorship at University of Coventry.
Our Board
Eileen Pembridge
Eileen studied Natural Sciences at Cambridge University and went onto study postgraduate courses in Languages at Bath University. After her studies, she went on to work for various United Nation bodies as a scientific translator.
In addition to this, Eileen was a practising solicitor for 45 years within Lambeth, Southwark and Central London and retired in February 2020. Eileen splits her time living both in Lambeth and Wiltshire where she has a cottage. Eileen keeps her professional knowledge up to date by attending meetings and lectures as a committee member of the Royal Institution on the latest developments in science.
In her spare time, she volunteers with Cranbourne Chase AONB doing environmental work, going for walks and dinghy sailing at Chichester Harbour and Blashford Lake. Furthermore, Eileen continues practising her French, Russian and Spanish via reading and listening as well as visiting museums and theatres.
After retiring, Eileen was looking for something worthwhile to do whereby she came across Healthwatch Lambeth. Her goal for Healthwatch Lambeth is for the organisation to be better known amongst residents and primary care services.
André Blackman – Strategy and Programmes Committee Chair
André Blackman is a graduate of Exeter University Masters of Art in International Affairs and Diplomacy. Professionally, he has over 10 years experience in Internal Control and Quality Assurance in Higher Education. André continues to help institutions and colleges review and improve the way standards are maintained within Higher Education and related industries by implementing processes and policy mapped to regulatory and sector expectation, and preparing reports that analyse and summarise data.
André is committed to giving back and, as well as being on the board of Healthwatch Lambeth, he is a Governor of Langford Primary School and Wilberforce Primary School (part of the United Learning Trust).
Fran James
I have experience of regularly interacting with a wide range of local health and social care services as a carer for two family members. My work experience is primarily in the public sector, having been a civil servant for 20 years, working in policy development, implementation and strategy roles. Alongside caring responsibilities, I run a football and climate change newsletter. I also have a long-standing interest in community activity including having recently been Vice-Chair of the Friends of Streatham Hill Theatre.
I have been a Public Member of the National Institute for Health and Care Research, Research for Social Care Committee since 2020, and have also sat on additional funding calls as a member of this committee on Mental Health and Dementia; Equality, Diversity and Inclusion; and (with UKRI) the Transforming Care and Health and Independence at Home Panel.
I decided I wanted to become a trustee of Healthwatch Lambeth to combine my personal experience of health and social care services, my interest in community activity, and my skills from working in the public sector, to help move the critical mission of the organisation forward.
Ruth Atkinson
Tom Lee – HR Committee Chair