Patrick C Pietroni in the mid 90s, was concerned about the lack of progress on patient and public involvement in healthcare and put a development team together. 4Ps was the result.  Professor Pietroni’s latest successful initiative is the establishment of the International Institute for the study of Cuba at London Metropolitan University. He was Dean of Post Graduate General Practice at North Thames (London University) and the Director of the Centre for Community Care and Primary Health at the University of Westminster. Patrick established a multidisciplinary Primary Health Care Centre in Marylebone, London.

Charles Easmon became Chair of 4Ps in November 2004. He is Director of the Centre for the Study of Policy and Practice in Health and Social Care at Thames Valley University and a visiting Professor at Imperial College. He is Deputy Chairman of the Health Protection Agency. Previous appointments included non-executive director of South West London Strategic Health Authority where he chaired its Workforce Development Board, Director of Workforce Development in the London Regional Office of the Department of Health, Dean of Postgraduate Medicine for the North West Thames Region and Fleming Professor of Microbiology at Imperial College.

Fedelma Winkler is director of development responsible for programme content. A Fellow at London Metropolitan University, Fedelma has written widely on public involvement and health care; designed and managed programmes and projects across the Health Service. Fedelma was the Chief Executive of Kent Family Health Services Authority, the Director of the Greater London Association of Community Health Councils and Chief Officer of City and Hackney Community Health Council.

Lindsey Graham is director of development at 4Ps, responsible for quality and Patient Friendly Recognition. Lindsey brings extensive experience of working with and representing user groups; volunteers and volunteering. She was Chief Executive of Health Information Matters, offering health information to the public, and Deputy Director of Cancerlink, providing information nationally to people affected by cancer and supporting over five hundred self help and support groups. Lindsey facilitates and project manages in the public, private and voluntary sectors specialising in cross-sector partnerships.

Fran Marsden leads our user steering group. Her experiences of routine NHS procedures as a mother of two, plus exposure to specialist areas such as renal clinics and geriatric care, gives her an insight into patient friendliness within the NHS. Her background is in customer care and retail, having worked as manager and buyer in Harrods for over 15 years.

All programmes are developed with people working in the field

Neil Graham is a Senior Consultant in Radiology and clinical lead for the successful implementation of a two week wait for imaging at Milton Keynes General NHS Trust.   Previously he was Assistant Director of Post Graduate Medical Education and Associate Dean for the Oxford Deanery;Clinical Director of Imaging and Deputy Chair of R&D District Clinical Tutor and Chair of Clinical Effectiveness for Milton Keynes District.

Judith Harvey is a freelance GP in inner London and undertakes GP appraisals. When she was a GP principal in Buckinghamshire, she was Chair of the Local Medical Committee and a member of the BMA General Practitioners Committee. She is a Council member of the National Association of Sessional GPs; an author of The Royal Society of Medicine's Handbook of Practice Management and an Honorary Fellow at London Metropolitan University.

Renos Pittarides is Practice Manager Executive Partner at Richford Gate Medical Practice in West London. Renos is a co-author on the Handbook of Practice Management (RSM Press) and Editorial Board member on Practice Management (George Warman Publications).  He also has a number of consultancy roles working with individual GP practices across the country as well as London Wide LMCs. He was lecturer in Practice Management at the University of Westminster.

Other Team Members


Neil Barnes is the Internet Developer for the 4Ps web requirements. He has been actively involved with the Internet since 1995 when he produced one of the very first web sites for a large public utility. With over 30 years experience in Public Relations, Communications and the Media he has won several awards for his design work both in print and for the web.

Brian Fisher:  Patients as Teachers is one of the many initiatives, to promote patient and community involvement, that Brian has pioneered in his 25 years as a GP in South East London. Others include establishing systems for patients to access their own records.  It is now possible for 60% of UK practices to switch on online record access for all their patients. Research demonstrates clear benefits including improved trust, with patients feeling better informed and more in control of their condition and management.  He has led and researched various strategies for involving the community in health care see Community development, user involvement, and primary health care BMJ 1999;318:749-750 ( 20 March). He is a member of Lewisham Primary Care Trust Board and of their Professional Executive Committee.  He chairs the NHS Alliance Patient and Public Involvement Group and chair of the Socialist Health Alliance.

Margaret Martin edits the 4Ps information and web resources. A freelance editor and journalist, she was the European Editor of the Patients Network, Assistant Director, Information and Development, at Anglia and Oxford RHA and Chief Officer to Cambridge Community Health Council.

Sheila Ritchie has 15 years experience of delivering training and consultancy in the health service, statutory and voluntary sectors. She has worked in a variety of settings and with a range of teams which has given her an understanding of problems encountered at all levels within organisations. Sheila is a psychoanalytic and group analytic psychotherapist with an MSc in group psychotherapy.

Margaret Straker is our Social Care advisor and member of the Patient Friendly Recognition support team. She has 30 years experience of social care settings specialising in families and Looked After Children, performance management and service improvement. Margaret is an independent reviewing officer with experience of service inspections and Ofsted.

Lynn Talbot has a deep knowledge of the Health Service based on a successful and highly varied career of over 25 years. She first trained as a nurse and became a teacher. As Director of Development in an FHSA and subsequently a Health Authority Lynn set up OD programmes for internal staff and contractors to support them in managing and delivering the service whilst coping with the changes around them. Lynn has held formal education and development appointments as an Assistant Dean for General Practice in the South Thames Deanery and as Director of Education, Development in the acute hospital in Basildon and Director of Modernisation for Eastern Region.

Mai Wann is helping us evaluate our programmes. She is a consultant specialising in the evaluation of social inclusion projects in the European Community. Her work in the UK includes research on users’ views for the NHS Executive, evaluation of self help and support groups like the Derbyshire Federation of Mental Health Groups and a review of the King’s Fund’s work on race. Her publications include Building Social Capital – self help in the 21st century welfare state Institute for Public Policy Research 1995.

Jack Winkler acts as an adviser to the Patient Friendly Recognition team, comparing systems of certification. He taught organisational sociology at the University of Kent, Imperial College London, and Cranfield University. Research during this period included occupational credentialing systems. Professor Winkler is currently Director of the Nutrition Policy Unit at London Metropolitan University. As an officer of numerous food campaigning groups, he has been active in promoting good and opposing bad endorsement programmes.