James became involved in patent safety following the loss of his baby son Joshua due to failures in his care at hospital where he was born in 2008.
Formerly a project manager in the nuclear industry, James changed his career in 2013 to work as the National Advisor on Patient Safety for the Care Quality Commission. Since then, James has worked extensively in a wide variety of patient safety roles. He was a member of the advisory group established to set up the Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB) and has recently worked as a member HSIB’s Investigation Education team.
James was a specialist advisor supporting the Independent Investigation into East Kent Maternity Services, which published its report in September 2022.
James is the Chief Executive of the charity Patient Safety Watch and Co-founder of the Harmed Patients Alliance. James is freelance patient safety consultant, working with a wide variety of healthcare organisations.
James is currently a visiting fellow at Cranfield University and was awarded an OBE for service to Patient Safety in 2015. In 2018, James completed a PGCert in Patient Safety at Imperial College, London. James’s book, Joshua’s Story was published in 2015, which can be purchased here.