Dr Michelle Tempest MA LLM MB BChir (Editor)
She is a community psychiatrist for Crisis Resolution and Home Treatment. She is qualified in medicine and law and teaches at Cambridge University.

Rt Hon Patricia Hewitt MP (Labour), Health Secretary
She was appointed Secretary of State for Health in May 2005. She has been a Member of Parliament since 1997. In 1993 Ms Hewitt wrote "About Time", a book focussing on changes in work and family life. She was Deputy Chair of the Commission for Social Justice and was a member of the Social Security Select Committee before taking up her Ministerial post.

Andrew Lansley CBE MP (Conservative), Shadow Health Secretary
He has been the Member of Parliament for South Cambridgeshire since May 1997. He is the Shadow Secretary of State for Health and a Vice-President of the Local Government Association. From 1999 to 2001 he was the Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office and was responsible for policy co-ordination in the Conservative Party.

Professor Steve Webb MP (Liberal Democrat), Shadow Health Secretary
He is MP for Northavon and is the Liberal Democrats' Spokesman on Health. From 1999-2005 he was the Spokesman on Work & Pensions.

Dr Robert Winter MD FRCP
Consultant Physician and Medical Director, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Professor Peter Friend MA MB BChir MD FRCS
He is the Professor of Transplantation at the University of Oxford, Director of the Oxford Transplant Centre and a Consultant Surgeon specialising in Transplant and Hepatobiliary surgery at the Oxford Radcliffe NHS Trust.

Dr Mayur Lakhani FRCGP
Chairman of Council, Royal College of General Practitioners, Visiting Professor in the Department of Health Sciences, University of Leicester School of Medicine.

Mr Jim Wardrope MB, ChB, FRCSEng, FRCSEd, FFAEM
President of the College of Emergency Medicine and consultant at the Northern General Hospital, Sheffield.

Dr Alistair McGowan MB, ChB, FRCPEd, FCEM
He is Immediate Past President of the Faculty of Accident and Emergency Medicine and consultant at St James's University Hospital, Yorkshire.

Professor Peter Crome MD PhD FRCP FFPM
He is the Professor of Geriatric Medicine and Deputy Head of Keele University Medical School as well as President-Elect, British Geriatrics Society. He is a Consultant Geriatrician with a special interest in the evaluation of health services for older people and the treatment of common disorders of later life, including stroke and dementia.

Professor Alan Craft MD FMed.Sci FRCPCH
He is a Professor of Child Health and a Consultant Paediatrician. He is National President of Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health and Chairman of Academy of Medical Royal Colleges. He is also the Head of Child Health at the University of Newcastle. He has published over 250 original papers, review articles and chapters in major journals and books over the last 25 years. He is a regularly invited speaker at major national and international meetings.

Dr Simon Lenton FRCPCH, MFPH
He is Vice President at the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health. He works in Bath as a consultant paediatrician with a special interest in community child health.

Professor Jim Thornton MD FRCOG
He is a Professor at the Academic Division of Obstetrics & Gynaecology and Child Health, City Hospital, Nottingham.

Dr Peter Simpson MD FRCA
He is President of the Royal College of Anaesthetists with special interests in training, examinations, assessment and accreditation of doctors and anaesthetists. He is President of the European Society of Anaesthesiology.

Mr Nick Astbury FRCOphth FRCS FRCP
He is President of the Royal College of Ophthalmologists and is a Consultant Ophthalmic Surgeon at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital NHS Trust.

Dr David Stone FRCP
He is a Consultant Cardiologist and Director of Education at Papworth and Associate Dean at the Faculty of Clinical Medicine. He is the co-Chair of the Ethnicity Online project and has major research interest in cardiac imaging.

Professor Karol Sikora MA, MBBChir, PhD, FRCR, FRCP, FFPM
He is Dean of Britain’s first independent Medical School at the Universities of Brunel and Buckingham. He is an editor of the standard UK postgraduate textbook Treatment of Cancer which this year goes to its 5th edition. He was Professor of Cancer Medicine and honorary Consultant Oncologist at Imperial College School of Medicine, Hammersmith Hospital, London where he was Clinical Director of Cancer Services for 12 years. He was seconded as Chief of the WHO Cancer Programme in 1997.

Mr Peter Butler MD, FRCSI, FRCS, FRCS(Plast)
He is a Consultant Plastic Surgeon and Honorary Senior Lecturer at the Royal Free and University College Hospitals, London and a Consultant in Plastic Surgery at the Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, USA. He is a council member of the British Association of Plastic Surgeons (BAPS). He has published over one hundred articles in the field of plastic surgery.

Professor Peter Tyrer FMedSci
He is Professor of Community Psychiatry, Imperial College, London in the Department of Neurosciences and Mental Health Medicine.

Professor Rod Griffiths CBE MB BSc FFPH FRCP
He was the regional director of public health for the West Midlands Regional Health Authority until his retirement in May 2004 and is currently the President of the Faculty of Public Health. He was awarded the CBE in 2000.

Mr Derek Draper MA Clinical Psychology
He is a former political adviser and was the author of “Blair’s 100 Days” (Faber). He is a psychotherapist in private practice in Marylebone, London and during his training worked as the development director of a community counselling centre in northern California. He is a member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (MBACP). He writes monthly columns in the magazines “Psychologies” and “Therapy Today”.

Ms Sylvia Denton FRCN, CBE, OBE, MSc, RN, RHV
President of the Royal College of Nursing. She has recently retired from her post as lead nurse/Senior Clinical Nurse Specialist in breast care. Sylvia was awarded the CBE in the New Years Honours List in 2006 for services to health care.

Jane Naish MSc, MA, RN
She is a policy adviser at the RCN. She has a background in nursing, sociology and health policy.

Dr Mosaraf Ali MBBS PhD
After qualifying as a doctor he continued his studies into complementary medicine. With continuous help and encouragement from Prince Charles he established a clinic where both complementary and conventional treatments are integrated. He opened the Integrated Medical Centre in London with a team of fifteen doctors and therapists.

Claire Rayner OBE
She is president of The Patients Association and is the UK’s best known agony aunt. She has a long and successful career as a journalist, broadcaster and writer, but began her working life as a nurse at the Royal Northern Hospital in London.

Professor Shelley Heard MBBS MSc PhD FRCPath
She trained as a medical microbiologist. She has been a chief executive of an acute trust and for the last 10 years has been a postgraduate dean for medicine in London. She is also currently the National Clinical Advisor for the Modernising Medical Careers (MMC) programme.

Professor Elisabeth Paice MA FRCP
She is Director of Postgraduate Medical and Dental Education for London. She developed the Hospital at Night concept and has published on stress in doctors; doctors in difficulty; workplace bullying; flexible training; and other aspects of medical careers.

Professor David E Neal FMedSci, FRCS
He is Professor of Surgical Oncology at the University of Cambridge & Member of PMETB. He has published over 300 articles, chapters and books and has raised over £20 million for his research programme. He is an elected member of the Council of the Royal College of Surgeons of England and a past Chairman of the SAC in Urology.

Professor Mark Walport FMedSci, FRCP
He is the Director of the Wellcome Trust and Chair of UKCRC & MMC Academic Careers Sub-committee.

Professor Ewan Ferlie BA MSc PhD
He is Director of the Centre for Public Services Organisations and Head of the School of Management, Royal Holloway University of London.

Dr Chess Denman MBBS MRCPsych
She is a Consultant Psychiatrist in psychotherapy at Addenbrookes hospital where she runs the Complex Cases service which specialises in the treatment of personality disordered patients. Dr Denman is the secretary of the Royal College Faculty of Psychotherapy, a member of the Society of Analytical Psychology and a founder member of the Association of Cognitive Analytic Therapists.

Mr Daniel Barnett, LLB
He is a leading Barrister in employment law and author of three employment law textbooks, including co-author of the Law Society Handbook on Employment Law. He has advised and defended a number of NHS trusts in unfair dismissal and discrimination claims. He frequently comments in national and specialist press on employment law matters.

Dr Colin Payton FRCP MFOM
He is a Consultant Occupational Physician and Clinical Director of Occupational Health and Safety at the Royal United Hospital, Bath.

Dr Joan Trowell FRCP
She is a University Lecturer in Medicine and a Consultant Physician at the Oxford Radcliffe Trust. She is a member of the General Medical Council and until recently she was chairman of the GMC’s Fitness to Practise Committee.

Mr Paul Buckley
He is the Director of Strategy and Planning at the General Medical Council.

Mr Tim Kevan MA
He is a Barrister at 1 Temple Gardens with expertise in personal injury (including clinical negligence), sports, consumer and general common law. He is the author of nine legal textbooks and edits three legal newsletters www.pibriefupdate.com, www.lawbriefupdate.com and www.medicolegalbriefupdate.com.

Dr Gerard Panting MA MRCGP DMJ
He is the Director of Policy, Medical Protection Society.

Mr Tony Harrison MA
He is a Fellow in Health Policy at the King’s Fund. He has published extensively on the future of hospital care, the private finance initiative, health research policy and waiting list management.

Professor Alan Maynard B.A., B.Phil, HonDSc, FAMS, Hon MFPHM
He is the Professor of Health Economics and Director of York Health Policy Group at York University. He has worked as a consultant for the WHO, the World Bank, the European Union and the UK’s Government Department for International Development. He is widely published in many books, specialist journals and the mainstream media. Since 1997 he has been Chairman of the York NHS Trust.

Mr Daniel Hannan MA MEP
He is a leader writer for The Daily Telegraph, author of 6 books and MEP for South East England.

Dr Eamonn Butler MA PhD
He is Director of the Adam Smith Institute, an influential think-tank which for more than twenty years has designed and promoted practical policies to promote choice and competition in the delivery of essential services. He frequently contributes articles to national magazines and newspapers on subjects such as health policy, economic management, taxation and public spending, transport, pensions, and e-government.

Professor Nick Bosanquet
He is a Professor of Health Policy at Imperial College, London and a health economist who first carried out research on NHS funding in the 1980’s for the York Reports sponsored by the British Medical Association, the Royal College of Nursing and the Institute for Health Services Management. He has been Special Adviser on public expenditure to the Commons Health Committee since 2000. He is a non-Executive Director of a Primary Care Trust in London.

Mr Andrew Haldenby
He is the Director of Reform, an independent, non-party think tank whose mission is to set out a better way to deliver public services and economic prosperity.

Dr Jessica Allen PhD Bsoc Sci
She is Senior Research Fellow and Head of Health and Social Care at the Institute for Public Policy Research. At IPPR, she is currently working on a project exploring public expectations and a sustainable health system. Prior to joining IPPR, she worked at the Kings Fund and at Unicef. She holds a PhD from the University of London and has lectured at the University of Greenwich and LSE.

Ms Jennifer Rankin MA
She is a Research Fellow in Health and Social Care at the Institute for Public Policy Research. At IPPR, she is currently working on a project exploring public expectations and a sustainable health system.