Heather Richardson currently works as a senior consultant to the Professional Learning Team and wider organization of St Christopher’s. She is an honorary consultant to the WHO Collaborating Centre for Building Country Capacity in Palliative Care and Long-Term Care in Kerala, India and a member of the London Clinical Senate and a trustee of Hospice Care Kenya.
She previously worked as Joint Chief Executive, then CEO of the hospice for a period of eight years after which she stepped down to take up a role of Director of Academic Learning and Action with leadership responsibilities related to education, research and policy.
In the past she has held the role of National Clinical Lead for Hospice UK, during which time she led a national commission into the future of hospice care. She has also worked as Clinical Director, then Strategy Advisor to St. Joseph’s Hospice in East London.
She is a general and mental health nurse and has a PhD focused on user experience of hospice care. Until recently, she enjoyed a role as honorary professor in palliative care at Lancaster University and has been a senior research fellow at Harris Manchester College in Oxford.
In the course of her professional life, she has received the International Palliative Nurse of the Year award issued by the International Journal of Palliative Nursing and other awards related to her role in innovation in healthcare. In June 2025 she was awarded an MBE for services to nursing and palliative care.
