Dave qualified as a learning disability nurse in 1991 and worked across wide ranging hospital and community settings. As a Consultant Nurse the NHS, with a clinical specialism in meeting the needs of people with a learning disability who present with distressed and risky behaviours, he also managed large teams of allied health professionals and specialist nurses; led the development of governance systems; developed wide ranging integrated care pathways; and supported service turnaround and modernisation initiatives.
Since 2012, Dave has provided expert consultancy services to a range of NHS and independent sector providers, as well as national agencies including the Department of Health, the Royal College of Nursing, the Care Quality Commission, NHS England and National Health Education Scotland. He has undertaken numerous independent investigations and service reviews across the UK, contributed to improvement and whole service turnaround programmes, and chaired countless complex Care and Treatment Reviews.
Whilst working with the Department of Health, Dave led a number of national policy initiatives concerning the reduction of restrictive interventions across health and social care and has remained actively involved in this area, including serving as a Trustee of the Restraint Reduction Network.
Dave was one of the co-authors of the critically acclaimed Health Equalities Framework (HEF) and continues to support initiatives focused on reducing the health inequalities experienced by marginalised populations. Whilst working for NHS England, Dave led the development of national learning disability improvement standards and a large-scale national benchmarking programme to assist trusts in meeting the improvement standards.
Dave is a keen supporter of initiatives which strengthen nursing leadership and the development of the learning disability nursing profession. He continues to publish on a range of topics and regularly presents at conferences.
Dave’s approach to consultancy and service improvement typically includes a rigorous focus on evidence and data informed improvement. He applies systems thinking to understand relationships between policy and local context, services’ structures and processes and the outcomes they deliver to people who use services. He readily draws on the high-level expertise of a range of associates and colleagues, including people with lived experience of using services and campaigning for improvement to services.