Lay Advisory Committee

Ben Richards is the Chief Operating Officer at North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare NHS Trust, where he leads operational performance, service transformation and organisational development across a broad range of mental health and community services. He has held senior roles across the NHS with a particular interest in system integration, culture change and improving patient and carer experience through meaningful engagement.

Ben’s motivation for healthcare leadership is rooted in his own family’s experiences of the NHS, which shaped his belief that compassionate, well‑organised services are fundamental to people’s lives. This personal perspective drives his commitment to creating environments where staff feel supported, patients feel heard and care is delivered with dignity and equity.

Alongside his operational work, Ben is passionate about strengthening public trust and supporting clinicians to deliver safe, person‑centred care. Through the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh Lay Advisory Committee, he aims to bring a grounded, real‑world perspective to the development of professional standards, education and policy—ensuring that the voices of patients, families and communities remain central to the College’s work.

“My involvement with the College gives me the chance to help ensure that patient and public voices genuinely influence clinical standards and professional practice. It reflects my belief that the best healthcare is shaped by lived experience as well as clinical expertise.”

Dr. Ravina Barrett is the Self-Medication and Reclassification Team Lead at the MHRA, where she directs national policy and international partnerships to widen patient access to high-quality, effective medicines. Her public-facing work at the Agency is centered on the priority of keeping patients safe while reducing reliance on primary care through strategic reclassification—a mission that aligns with the NHS Long Term Plan to deliver more care in the community.

A registered pharmacist with 20 years of experience, Ravina holds a PhD in pharmaco-epidemiology and an MSc in Finance. Her career is defined by a deep commitment to robust governance and patient safety. Since November 2015, she has served as an expert member of a Health Research Authority (HRA) Research Ethics Committee, advancing to Alternate Vice Chair in 2021 and serving as Chair since 2023, providing ethical oversight for major clinical trials.

Deeply engaged with the College’s mission to set the highest standards of medical practice, Ravina serves on the Editorial Board of the Future Healthcare Journal. Her interests focus on addressing health inequalities and illness prevention as essential pillars for the sustainability of the NHS. She brings extensive experience in policy advocacy, using data-driven research to address the wider determinants of health, including digital equity and environmental sustainability, ensuring that proportionate regulation serves as the fuel for ethical innovation.
 

"Being a Lay Advisor allows me to champion the College's mission of clinical excellence. I leverage my regulatory expertise and a decade of ethical leadership to ensure that patient safety, data-driven equity, and inclusive research remain at the heart of College policy and future NHS strategy."

I qualified as a registered nurse, (Trauma and Orthopaedics) in Scotland, subsequently advancing to a ward manager role for several years. I acquired advocacy skills, also as a union health and safety workplace representative (and subsequently in Higher Education).  I read law (at Scottish HNC, first degree and successively, criminal justice and criminology at master’s level). l worked as a Senior lecturer and lecturer, specialising in Healthcare law and Ethics at two HE institutions over a 22-year span. I gained extensive committee work experience including seven years, on the Advisory Committee on Clinical Excellence Awards (ACCEA), DoH, East of England. I am currently a member of the IME.  

My specialist interest focuses on the Bioethical and legal framework underpinning clinical governance, patient-centred care, vulnerable people, advocacy and  patient safety.  Over the years, I have published several academic works including a fourth edition textbook. Since I retired in 2024. I have been a visiting lecturer teaching on post-registration multi-disciplinary modules, and I continue to write for publication. 

 It is an honour for me to serve on the RCPE Lay Advisory Committee. I am grateful for the opportunity to interact with fellow members. I hope to contribute to the work of the RCPE in improving patient-centred care and to share my perspective shaped by practice as a former clinician and lived experience as a patient. 

Professor Fiona Wood is an Emerita Professor of Medical Sociology at Cardiff University’s School of Medicine and a long‑standing researcher in healthcare communication, and patient experience. Over more than three decades, she has worked across health and social care systems, combining rigorous evidence‑based analysis with a strong commitment to public protection, ethical practice, and improving the quality and safety of care.

Her career has focused on understanding how patients and the public experience illness, services, and decision‑making, with her research widely cited in national and international policy. Fiona has extensive governance and scrutiny experience, serving on research ethics committees, funding panels, and international review boards, and brings strengths in evaluating complex evidence, supporting transparent decision‑making, and promoting inclusive and equitable practice.

Alongside her academic work, Fiona has contributed to a range of voluntary and public service roles, including hospital companionship with Marie Curie and educational support for disadvantaged young people. She is committed to ensuring that the voices, needs, and expectations of patients and the wider public remain central to professional standards and healthcare improvement.

As a Lay Advisor, Fiona aims to support the College’s mission by championing ethical leadership, high‑quality care, and meaningful public engagement.

Prof Buchan is a Senior Visiting Fellow at the Health Foundation, and an Adjunct Professor at the WHO Collaborating Centre at the University of Technology in Sydney Australia. He has specialized in health workforce policy throughout his career, which includes periods working in government agencies in Scotland and Australia; and as a regional Adviser on Human Resources for Health for WHO. In recent years he has worked extensively as a consultant on health workforce policy and planning in a range of countries in Europe and Asia-Pacific, for governments and international agencies. His global health workforce policy interests mean that he is interested in the RCPE international links, as well as the specific focus on rural and remote healthcare delivery. He is Editor Emeritus of “Human Resources for Health”, the peer reviewed journal affiliated with WHO;  and  an Honorary Fellow of both the Royal College of Nursing, UK; and of the Australian College of Nursing. Jim is currently Vice Chair of the Aberdeen Football Club Community Trust (AFCCT). My role with the College will enable me to contribute on health workforce policy and development, both in Scotland, my home,  and internationally.  I have a particular interest in the workforce component in rural and remote healthcare delivery.

Sally Buchanan brings over 20 years of public‑sector experience alongside a scientific background that includes a PhD in veterinary clinical trials. Latterly her career has centred on tackling poverty, reducing inequalities and evidence‑based approaches to transforming public services.  She held leadership roles in Falkirk Council, where she led major change programmes with a strong focus on fairness, dignity and the effective use of data. She led the redesign of Falkirk’s public library service, ensuring it played a more active role in addressing poverty, supporting access to essential services and improving health‑related outcomes.  

Sally transformed the Council’s support for people experiencing poverty, setting up Advice and Support Hubs that refocused resources on supporting those more in need.  Her wider experience includes overseeing the Council’s equalities improvement programme, leading the Support for People service during the pandemic and co‑producing Falkirk’s annual child poverty action plan with NHS Forth Valley. 

Sally has a particular interest in the developing role of public libraries in health prevention and patient‑led care, seeing them as trusted, accessible environments that can widen health literacy and promote early support.

"Being part of the Lay Advisory Committee allows me to use my experience in tackling poverty and transforming public‑facing services to support the College’s work to improve patient care and reduce health inequalities. 

I am particularly motivated by the potential for public libraries to strengthen prevention, empower patients, and make sure that healthcare remains equitable and person‑centred."