About us - Attain

Our values

At Attain, it’s our people that differentiate us from the competition. We have a multi-disciplinary team with a wealth of experience from across the public and private sector.

We are a values-led organisation. Our team are passionate about health and social care in the NHS and are strong problem solvers, have a flexible approach and work collaboratively across all levels of an organisation. We pride ourselves in being able to meet even the most specific needs of our customers – from strategic delivery and analytics to clinical service re-design and cost improvement.

Leadership team

Our leadership team embodies our focus on taking the best from different sectors to support our customers to transform care and improve health and wellbeing.

Our people

Mark Carmichael

Managing Director

Mark Carmichael

Managing Director

For the past 16 years Mark has focused exclusively on working with the NHS; helping to transform care in a way that improves efficiency and benefits patients directly. He has worked across health and care systems and with individual organisations to broker consensus and develop sustainable models of care that meet people’s future needs. This has included ground-breaking programmes that have resulted in major changes in care economies – significant shifts in care activity, the implementation of capitated budgets with contract values of up to £285m and the integration of clinical services across multiple, independent, acute Trusts. Mark brings a deep understanding of implementing effective change; he personally leads Attain’s delivery in several geographies including the East of England and the North West. Mark began his career in manufacturing industry with Honda and Unipart before moving into health firstly with KPMG and then Avail Consulting. He has been Attain’s Managing Director since our formation in January 2011.

Martin Wilson

Executive Chair

Martin Wilson

Executive Chair

Martin is one of the founders of Attain. Currently, Martin is directing a range of projects including Attain’s support to the development of a large ICS, focusing on programme management and the roll-out of integrated care. Another major project in his portfolio is the development of a strategic workforce model and dashboard to assist ICS and place-based care in London. In a 40-year career, Martin has led private sector businesses and supported the work of the public sector both in the UK and overseas. For the past 20 years Martin has focused on supporting the NHS. He has worked across the system – providers, commissioners, arm’s length bodies and DH. His work has encompassed strategy development and operational planning to system, service and pathway redesign. Martin’s current work includes helping systems address major service delivery challenges. Martin spent two spells with KPMG and his last role was leading KPMG’s UK public sector consulting practice. Over the course of his career Martin has been a founder and leader of four start-up businesses. Outside of work Martin cycles and is ticking off a number of hill climbs!

Struan Coad

Director

Struan Coad

Director

Struan is one of the founders of Attain. Over the past 15 years Struan has extensive experience working across health and social care as well as the wider public sector. Struan leads Attain’s support for technology enabled change. He is currently part of a team providing change management expertise for the largest ERP implementation in the UK. This builds on years of experience of ensuring digital tools are used to improve care outcomes and efficiency. Struan is also delivering a range of programmes that are improving provision of diagnostics, including business case development and implementation planning for Community Diagnostic Centres and diagnostic training academies. Struan has previously implemented complex programmes for the Department of Work and Pensions, Department for Education, numerous local authorities and organisations across the health sector, working for EDS (now HP) and Avail Consulting.

Chris Walker

Director

Chris Walker

Director

Chris is a Director and Board Member at Attain and has been with the organisation since its inception in 2011. Chris has spent the past 16 years focussed on supporting the NHS and currently oversees all of Attain’s business in Yorkshire and Humber and the Northeast, leading teams to deliver across System, Place and Organisation level. Chris has a real passion for improving services for local people, with a focus on collaboration and integration. The past 12 months have been incredibly busy as we support the NHS to manage Covid, recover elective services, create bespoke strategies to manage workforce challenges across a variety of sectors, develop and set up Community Diagnostic Centres and support the NHS to reorganise through the establishment of Integrated Care Boards along with the transition of CCGs. Chris’ approach is built on Attain’s Values, aligning the organisation to the NHS and ensuring our approach is both realistic and we deliver the best value to the NHS.

Helen Pyecroft

Director

Helen Pyecroft

Director

Helen Pyecroft is a Director at Attain and since joining Attain in 2012, Helen has supported her clients to operate as effective and robust organisations – including developing strategy, designing effective organisational structures and governance arrangements, integration and partnership working across health and social care and designing and delivering organisational development strategies to build effective teams. She is also experienced at leading projects to see large-scale transformation through to delivery. Helen is currently supporting her ICS, provider collaborative and place-based clients to design and mobilise new systems, structures and service models to deliver the changes set out in the 2022 health and care legislation. These projects include designing governance, performance frameworks, place-based delivery plans and provider collaborative models. Helen started her career as a civil servant and has since spent 21 years as a public-sector management consultant working with numerous high-profile government clients. Her clients included the Department for Education, Foreign & Commonwealth Office, Royal Mail, Home Office, numerous local authorities and many organisations across the health sector.

Gareth Hartley

Director

Gareth Hartley

Director

Gareth is a Director at Attain and has been with the organisation since its inception in 2011. Gareth has spent the past 14 years working with a range of NHS clients; combining strategic, financial, and programme management skills to deliver his passion improved patient outcomes and better value for money. Gareth is currently leading several high profile and large-scale programmes, including support for an ICS Covid Vaccination Programme, major acute service reconfiguration, elective recovery, workforce transformation, the implementation of Community Diagnostic Centres, and the development of place-based arrangements to support greater integration for local communities. Gareth also provides strategic leadership to Attain’s elective recovery offer and internal finance function. Gareth qualified as a chartered accountant in 2006, and during his time at the National Audit Office led several parliamentary Value for Money reports into high profile areas of Government expenditure. Gareth also has industry experience of working within the supply chain of a large automotive manufacturer.

Chris Spark

Associate Director

Chris Spark

Associate Director

Chris brings 20 years health and care experience with a strong focus around performance delivery, programme management, design for integrated solutions across health and care, commercial redesign and transformational leadership within NHS commissioning, provider trusts and across wider systems. Chris is effective in building Board and organisational capability, is results orientated and is passionate about improving outcomes for individuals and populations. Chris is a strategic thinker, with an innovative, evidence based, collaborative and rigourous approach. Chris has a collaborative leadership style and an award-winning track record of delivering tangible results in challenging environments. Chris’s deep experience of integration, especially in out of hospital services, and programme management are demonstrated through the following engagements: (i) Chris worked with three ICSs and an Ambulance Service to help establish a collaborative approach to Integrated Planning and Delivery of Integrated Urgent Care Services, breaking down barriers between commissioners and providers; (ii) Chris designed a Provider Alliance approach for a group of Mental Health providers in the North of England, setting out a realistic journey to delivery; (iii) Chris is developing a business case for three acute Trusts to establish a Pathology Partnership. Alongside this work Chris is programme managing a c.£250m collaborative procurement to secure a new managed service contract for pathology equipment; and (iv) Chris supported the North Lincolnshire health and care system with Out of Hospital Transformation Programme which transitioned to an Integrated Care Partnership. Chris is an Associate Director in Attain and leads the internal Communities.

Ian Triplow

Associate Director

Ian Triplow

Associate Director

Ian is an Associate Director and leads the line management of all the Attain delivery staff as the Head of People and Careers (HoPC). Ian is an experienced senior operational, project, and programme manager in both the private and public sector with the last 15 years in the NHS. He has been responsible for operational budgets above £50 million with workforce and contracts for the delivery of services to a high quality of care standards. Ian has experience of successful organisational turnaround with multiple organisations and large-scale improvement programmes that deliver system-wide change. He has been working closely with health and care leaders to facilitate more significant system working, improving care delivery, and long-term value; and most recently has been leading a successful system wide Community Diagnostic Centre programme working through the strategic, business and then operational delivery of 5 new centres.

About Us

Framework appointments

We are delighted to be appointed on some of the most respected frameworks in the country, giving our customers a quick and easy route to our expertise in improving health and wellbeing.

Get in touch

Contact us to discuss your challenges

Get in touch with us to learn more about how we can support you in addressing your challenges.

Complete our simple form and we’ll call you right back, alternatively just email:

contacts@attain.co.uk