About
Dr Natalie Jones is a clinical academic, researcher, and health and care consultant with more than 30 years of experience in the NHS. As a freelance consultant, she supports health, care, and voluntary sector organisations to strengthen leadership, collaboration, and service quality.
Drawing on extensive experience working across complex health and care systems, Natalie brings people together from diverse disciplines, organisations, and communities to create shared understanding and sustainable improvement. She is skilled in navigating complexity with curiosity and clarity, helping teams move from challenge to insight, and from reflection to meaningful action.
Her work brings together reflective supervision, practical improvement methods, evaluation, and inclusive co-design, helping individuals and teams grow with confidence, compassion, and purpose.
Career Highlights
With over 30 years’ experience across clinical practice, research, and system leadership, I’ve been privileged to contribute to national improvement and innovation in health and care. Key highlights include:
Four NIHR Research Career Development Fellowships, including a doctoral & post-doctoral awards for the BISTRo study, advancing eating and drinking interventions in stroke rehabilitation.
Lead developer of VICTOR Research Impact Tool, a nationally adopted tool used by more than 55 health and care organisations across the UK to capture and evidence the real-world impact of research.
National recognition for leadership and innovation from the Royal College of Occupational Therapy, the Chief Allied Health Professions Officer (NHS England), and the HSJ and Advancing Care Awards.
Strategic leadership roles shaping Allied Health Profession (AHP) workforce development, service improvement, and digital transformation across health and care systems.
Alumna of The King’s Fund Population Health and Emerging Clinical Leaders programmes, reflecting a commitment to continuous leadership development.
Qualified Microsystems Service Improvement Coach and experienced in Experience-Based Co-design approaches to facilitate collaborative change.
PRINCE2 Programme and Project Manager, bringing structure and rigour to improvement and innovation initiatives
Accreditations, Qualifications, and Professional Organisations
With over 30 years’ experience across clinical practice, research, and system leadership, I’ve been privileged to contribute to national improvement and innovation in health and care. Key highlights include:
Qualifications
BSc (Hons) in Occupational Therapy, University of Derby
MSc Clinical Research, University of Sheffield
PgCert Managing in Health and Social Care, Sheffield Hallam University
PhD in Philosophy, Stroke Rehabilitation, University of Sheffield, School of Medicine and Population Health
Accreditations
PRINCE2 Foundation and Practitioner, The Knowledge Academy
Service Improvement Coach, Microsystems Academy Dartmouth
Foundation Programme in Public Health (level 1 & 2), Barnsley Council
Level 1 Accreditation Motivational Interviewing, Association for Psychological Therapies
Foundation and Intermediate Health Coaching, Peak Health Coaching
Health Economics Masters Module
Professional Organisations
Health and Care Professions Council Registered Occupational Therapist
Member, Royal College of Occupational Therapists
The four areas of my work
Supervision, Mentoring & Leadership
Nurturing reflective practice and confident, compassionate leadership.
Research & Service Improvement
Building the evidence for what works and turning learning into action.
Workforce Development
Creating resilient, connected, and collaborative teams.
Co-design & Coproduction
Bringing professionals, patients, and communities together to shape meaningful, sustainable change.
Grounded in evidence and guided by compassion, my work blends academic rigour with real-world understanding. Whether facilitating an evaluation project, leading a workshop, or mentoring a team, I focus on empowering people and leaving a lasting legacy of skills and confidence.
My values in action:
Compassion & Integrity
listening with empathy, acting with honesty.
Collaboration & Inclusivity
creating space for all voices to be heard.
Excellence & Empowerment
combining high standards with a focus on building others’ confidence and capability.
“A shining light in our clinical team — your compassion and determination to advocate for patients has been second to none.”
Ready to start a conversation?