Milewood appoints former CQC deputy chief inspector as advisor

Milewood has appointed Sue Howard as an independent board advisor to help strengthen its approach to quality and governance.

Howard brings decades of sector experience, including seven years as deputy chief inspector for adult social care at the Care Quality Commission (CQC). Her appointment forms part of Milewood’s wider focus on robust oversight, accountability and continuous improvement across its services.

In the new advisory role, she will work independently with the board and leadership team, providing insight and challenge, with a focus on the organisation’s quality and governance systems and the delivery of ‘high-quality’ support. She will also assume chairmanship of the quality, risk and governance group.

Howard retired from her full-time CQC career in March 2022 but has continued to work across adult social care and regulation. Her subsequent roles have included acting as an independent advisor to the CQC chief executive, serving as a board member for a domestic and sexual abuse charity and as independent chair of a safeguarding adults board.

‘I have spent virtually all of my working life in adult social care and remain passionate about ensuring that people are at the centre of decisions about the services and support they receive,’ she said.

‘Good quality and governance should ultimately be about the difference they make to people’s lives. I am looking forward to working independently with Milewood’s board, bringing my experience of frontline care, management and regulation to provide constructive challenge and support.’

Martyn Heginbotham, chief executive officer of Milewood, said: ‘Having someone of Sue’s calibre providing independent advice and challenge to our board and leadership team is an important part of our commitment to continually strengthening quality and governance across Milewood.

‘We want to make sure we are constantly asking ourselves the right questions, learning and improving. Sue’s knowledge, independence and understanding of what good care looks like from both a provider and regulatory perspective will be enormously valuable.’

Milewood provides living services for adults with disabilities, with more than 50 homes throughout the UK.