Dame Philippa Russell DBE chaired the Government’s Standing Commission on Carers for six years.

She is Vice-President of Carers UK and a member of the Ministerial Oversight Group for delivering the Government’s Action Plan for Carers. She is a member of a range of national advisory bodies on health and social care, including the ADASS Carers Policy Network, and is a Board member of the Think Local Act Personal Partnership. As a Topic Adviser to the National Institute for Excellence in Health and Social Care, she has worked on several guidelines, including support for adult carers and older people with learning disabilities and their families. She is a member of the Programme Advisory Group for the new UK Centre for Evidence proposed Centre for Evidence Implementation in Adult Social Care. She was formerly a Commissioner with the UK Government’s Disability Rights Commission (DRC) and Director of the Council for Disabled Children, she led the DRC formal Investigation into health inequalities for people with learning disabilities and mental health problems. She is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health.