Mary Cridge has worked in public and private sector regulation for more than 30 years. Now in her 12th year at the Care Quality Commission, she has a strong history of working with colleagues to recognise excellence where they find it and support providers when they need it. She was the CQC’s first Freedom to Speak Up Guardian and used the role to nurture a collaborative workplace full of caring and inspiring people determined to make services, teams, and hospitals safer and stronger across England. Previous roles included working in the CQC’s Hospitals Directorate as head of inspection for the south west and as head of compliance for the south west. Prior to the creation of the CQC she was at the Healthcare Commission working on the creation of the first ever annual health check for NHS organisations.