Care Quality Commission

Chris Badger

executive director

Chris joined CQC from Hertfordshire County Council where he was Director of Adult Care Services. Chris has spent 15 years working across roles in adult social care, and has shown clear commitment to improving the care provided to people who use and rely on adult social care services. Expenses of senior management and board members. Your information helps us decide when, where and what to inspect. Let's make care better together.

Chris Usher

executive director

Chris is a qualified accountant with over 20 years financial experience within national public sector organisations. Chris has been at CQC since it was established in 2009, operating in senior leadership roles of Director of Finance, Commercial and Workplace for 7 years and Head of Financial Management prior to that for 3 years. He was appointed as Executive Director of Finance and Corporate Services in September 2025 and leads the functions of People, Finance, Legal, Governance and NCSC. Expenses of senior management and board members. Your information helps us decide when, where and what to inspect. Let's make care better together.

Dr Adrian James

executive director

Adrian takes up this role on an interim basis as Arun Chopra continues to fill the role of interim Chief Executive. Adrian will be returning to his substantive post at NHS England at the end of the secondment. Expenses of senior management and board members. Your information helps us decide when, where and what to inspect. Let's make care better together.

Dr Toli Onon

executive director

Toli is a Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist and combines her medical leadership responsibilities with frontline clinical work at Saint Mary’s Hospital in Manchester. She has spent nearly 35 years working in the NHS hospitals sector and has played a key role in overseeing quality and patient safety improvement initiatives, as well as the professional regulation of Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust’s 2800 medical and dental staff. Expenses of senior management and board members. Your information helps us decide when, where and what to inspect. Let's make care better together.

Esther Provins

executive director

Esther joined CQC in March 2025 and leads the Technology, Data and Insight and Registration functions She has worked in health and social care for over 26 years, with 6 years at executive level. She has held positions in IT engineering, telephony, data analytics and programme management and has led the development and implementation of national software systems to support public health programmes. More recently, she has specialised in developing and leading complex change, digital transformation and continuous improvement programmes to support quality improvement. Expenses of senior management and board members. Your information helps us decide when, where and what to inspect. Let's make care better together.

Professor Bola Owolabi CBE

executive director

Bola is Director of the National Healthcare Inequalities Improvement Programme at NHS England. She also works as a GP in the Midlands. Bola has particular interest in reducing healthcare inequalities through integrated care models, service transformation, and using data insights for quality improvement. At NHS England, she spearheaded the Core20PLUS5 approach to narrowing healthcare inequalities. This approach focuses support on the most deprived ‘Core 20’ percent of the population, ‘plus’ other underserved groups identified through local population health data (such as communities with minority ethnicity), and targets ‘5’ key clinical areas for priority improvement. Versions of the Core20PLUS5 approach are in place for both adults and children and young people. Internationally, Bola has twice been a member of the Danish Ambassador’s Tour De Health – a 10 nation healthcare policy leaders’ summit. Additionally, she was the UK representative on the Commonwealth Fund/Academy Health Tour 2023, exploring equity in national health policy across the United States, Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore. She was previously National Speciality Advisor for Older People and Integrated Person-Centred Care at NHS England, where she led the Anticipatory Care workstream of the National Ageing Well Programme. She collaborated with teams across NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care as part of the COVID-19 pandemic response. Bola is an alumna of Ashridge Executive Education/Hult International Business School and holds a Masters degree with distinction in Leadership (Quality Improvement). She also received an NHS Leadership Academy Award in Executive Healthcare Leadership for Clinicians. Bola is an Honorary Professor at the Institute of Applied Health Research, College of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Birmingham. She is also a Vice President of the Royal Society of Public Health (RSPH). Expenses of senior management and board members. Your information helps us decide when, where and what to inspect. Let's make care better together.

Alex Kafetz

non-executive director

Alex advises both UK and international organisations on the better use of data, artificial intelligence, and technology. He is a non-executive director of CQC and an Authority member of the HFEA. He is also an honorary lecturer in digital health at the University of Central Lancashire. Previously, Alex worked for Beamtree, Dr Foster and ZPB Associates. He was also an advisor to the Cabinet Office on open data policy and a member of the NHS National Information Board from 2014 to 2020. In 2018, Alex was appointed as an advisor to the Independent Inquiry into the issues raised by breast surgeon Ian Paterson. Alex began his career at the predecessor bodies to CQC, and in 2006/07 was an inaugural winner of the James Mayes award. During this time, he worked on emerging models of accountable care for the US healthcare company Premier Inc, as well as on behalf of the Department of Health and Human Services. A strong advocate of the publication of information to improve healthcare performance, Alex gave evidence on this to the public inquiry into Mid Staffordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. Expenses of senior management and board members. Your information helps us decide when, where and what to inspect. Let's make care better together.

Melanie Williams

non-executive director

Melanie has 30 years of experience working across local government, the NHS and the voluntary sector, progressing from practice to senior leadership roles. She has experience of delivering and driving practice change at scale to improve outcomes for people through the development of performance-focused culture and strength-based practice. Melanie was president of ADASS in May 2024 to April 2025 following leadership roles as policy trustee, mental health and social justice. Through this work, Melanie has advocated for reform based on the experience of people with lived experience. She has contributed to mental health law reform and the 10-year mental health strategy. She has also informed the governmental COVID-19 response and social care reform. Melanie speaks on the relationship between health inequalities, housing and social care, highlighting the role local government plays in leading local partnerships that deliver change in communities. She has led the development of good practice guides aimed at local government within social care practice and NHS commissioning guidance within DHSC. She has developed models of capacity and demand management at national level. Melanie is a partner member of the integrated care board and former member of the integrated care system board, where she served as senior sponsor for several key system workstreams. She has previously led joint commissioning and integrated operational teams with successful delivery of integration in both adult and children’s services, across social care, health, community service and primary care. Expenses of senior management and board members. Your information helps us decide when, where and what to inspect. Let's make care better together.

Michael Mire

non-executive director

Michael was previously a senior partner at McKinsey & Company where he worked for more than 30 years. Through his Aviva and governmental experience, he brings a unique perspective. Michael's experience with the Department of Health and Social Care and CQC gives him particular insight into the health and protection market. He also has a detailed understanding of the financial services sector, and a wealth of experience in business transformation and developing strategies for retail and financial services companies. This has included mergers of major banks and insurance companies. Michael is also the chair of an AI-based project management company and a blockchain-based process redesign company. Expenses of senior management and board members. Your information helps us decide when, where and what to inspect. Let's make care better together.

Prof David Croisdale-Appleby

non-executive director

David is an academic, medical educationist and social reformer, and has held many leadership positions at organisations across the health and care sectors. Until recently a non-executive director at Health Education England, David is the current chair of the Royal College of Physicians. He also chairs Durham University International Business School and DementiaUK. His previous positions as chair have included at an NHS trust, the forensic science regulator and the UK-wide sector skills council for social care and social work. Expenses of senior management and board members. Your information helps us decide when, where and what to inspect. Let's make care better together.

Richard Barker CBE

non-executive director

Richard previously led the transformation of the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and NHS England (NHSE) and so his initial appointment to CQC in June 2025 was as an associate non-executive director. After his NHS England role ended, he was appointed as a full non-executive director of CQC on 1 April 2026. Richard has a 40 year career in the NHS involving senior leadership roles in both operational and strategic settings. He is particularly interested in how organisations can take a strategic approach to quality improvement and the use of advanced analytics as an accelerator for change. Richard retired as Regional Director of NHS England (North) in 2024 and is on the governing body of University of Sunderland. Expenses of senior management and board members. Your information helps us decide when, where and what to inspect. Let's make care better together.

Ruth Owen OBE

non-executive director

Leonard Cheshire is a leading disability charity and social care provider. Ruth and her team are building an organisation equipped to meet the needs of the next generation of disabled people through life-changing social care and support. Previously, Ruth was Chief Executive at Whizz-Kidz - a national children’s disability charity providing mobility equipment and services. In 2018, she was appointed as a non-executive director of Motability Operations Group Plc, and served as a former member of The Mayor of London’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Group. In 2022, she was appointed as trustee for the Social Mobility Foundation, a charity that aims to make a practical improvement in social mobility for young people. Expenses of senior management and board members. Your information helps us decide when, where and what to inspect. Let's make care better together.