Skip to main content

Rachel Edwards

With over 30 years’ experience across healthcare, local authorities, criminal justice and the voluntary sector, Rachel specialises in breaking down barriers between organisations, building partnerships and putting people and communities at the heart of change.

Rachel Edwards brings a broad perspective on how change works at different scales. Her career began in local government and has spanned local authorities, the NHS, technology companies and consultancy firms, giving her unique insight into how transformation can be achieved across diverse organisational contexts. She quickly developed a focus on improvement, collaboration and efficiency, always keeping population needs and local voices at the centre.

Rachel is known for her practical, outcomes-focused approach: starting with what success looks like for people and places, then working with teams to achieve it. She brings together diverse groups – across neighbourhoods, service users, partners and the wider system – to design and deliver solutions that work on the ground. She ensures that people with lived experience are involved at every stage, so transformation happens with communities, not to them. For Rachel, success is about both measurable outcomes and the human side – improved relationships and stronger communities.

Rachel’s expertise centres on:

  • Strategic Leadership: Making sense of complexity, translating policy into actionable strategies, reading market signals and curating what matters most for communities and organisations
  • Efficiency and Transformation: Digital transformation and pathway redesign, establishing digital maturity baselines and driving measurable improvement across provider, patient and community groups
  • Workforce and Skills: Board mentoring and development, building governance capability, supporting leadership resilience and helping teams feel confident about new ways of working
  • Commercial and Negotiations: Securing funding, developing compelling bids and propositions, building sustainable partnerships and navigating complex procurement processes with a focus on long-term impact

Key achievements include:

  • Engagement lead supporting multi-agency SARC premises and infrastructure procurement across Surrey, Sussex, Kent, Hampshire and Thames Valley, working with NHSE Health and Justice Services, police, NHS South and NHS Property Services
  • Programme Manager for Digital First projects improving technology use across PCN groups in North East England and North Central and North East London, leading digital engagement projects, reviewing digital access and gathering patient insight to inform strategy
  • Project Lead for an innovative Pan London Out of Hours Dental Service procurement, including population health needs assessment, financial and workforce modelling, NHS 111 integration and stakeholder engagement
  • Led development of collaborative Health and Wellbeing services for Oasis Restore Secure Schools, bringing together NHSE Health and Justice, Ministry of Justice, Youth Justice Services, Public Health and third sector partners
  • Managed projects across multiple PCNs, facilitating vision and strategy development, board development, workforce planning and delivery models to achieve better patient outcomes
  • Project Manager and Acting PCN Lead for ICS Personalised Care programmes, representing PCNs in strategy and workforce planning and enhancing patient pathways
  • Led funding opportunities and bid development for PCNs, fostering collaboration, co-production and service integration whilst addressing digital exclusion to reduce health inequalities

Rachel is recognised for her thought leadership in digital inclusion, neighbourhood working and collaborative service delivery. She champions the use of digital tools to improve access and reduce health inequalities and promotes collaborative service delivery at neighbourhood and place levels. She is an active member of place-based and ICB peer support forums, working to reduce digital poverty, tackle exclusion and improve digital literacy.

Rachel sees change as an opportunity, not a problem. She is committed to bringing teams along on the journey – building trust, encouraging collaboration and helping people feel confident about new ways of working. Her approach combines strategic thinking with operational insight to ensure solutions are both innovative and achievable.

Need help with a project?

Seeking additional capacity across programme and project management, business case and bid development, facilitation and workshops – including exploratory support where requirements are still being shaped.

Book a FREE discovery call