Hill Dickinson LLP

Healthcare and Public Law

Partner

Ros began her legal career in local government, providing legal advice and support to colleagues in the planning and environmental health departments of the Council. Ros advised the Planning Committee and appeared for the Council in numerous criminal and other Magistrates’ Court proceedings, including the high profile Anti-Social Behaviour Order proceedings against the “lottery lout” Michael Carroll, in which Ros acted as advocate for the Council and was successful in obtaining the Order.

While at Steeles (law) LLP, Ros acted for a wide range of local authorities providing advice on public law, vires and judicial review matters. Ros was also responsible for managing a caseload of benefit fraud and other prosecutions for local authority clients.

Ros was initially appointed as the Deputy Head of Corporate Legal Services of the General Dental Council (“GDC”) to provide public and administrative law support to the organisation – which is the statutory regulator of the dental profession. Ros was quickly promoted to Head of Fitness to Practise Legal Services. In that role Ros recruited, developed and managed a team of specialist in-house advocates and ensured that the Fitness to Practise team received appropriate legal support. Ros engaged and managed external legal support as needed and was responsible for reporting to the corporate management team and the Board of the GDC on all fitness to practise matters.

Prior to joining Browne Jacobson LLP, Ros was recruited into the then leading public law team of DAC Beachcroft LLP (“DACB”), having been headhunted from the GDC. The position at DACB enabled Ros to combine her longstanding public law experience with the expertise in disciplinary law that she had gained at the GDC. Ros’ day to day practice at DACB involved advising clients such as the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE), the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) and NHS England on all aspects of public and administrative law. Ros advised the Chartered Institute for Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA), the GDC and the Chartered Institute of Building (“CIOB”) on disciplinary matters. In January 2009 Ros acted for Sharon Shoesmith in her employment and judicial review claims relating to the ‘Baby P’ case. Ros worked closely with Sharon in the judicial review proceedings which were ultimately concluded in Sharon’s favour in the Court of Appeal (Shoesmith v Ofsted and others [2011] EWCA Civ 642)

Ros joined the Public and Administrative Law team of Browne Jacobson LLP in April 2012 as an Associate from DACB, bringing with her a range of clients including all public sector Ombudsmen in England and Wales, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority and the CIOB. Ros quickly expanded her portfolio of clients with the addition of the National Audit Office and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. In August 2013 Ros began working with the Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care (“PSA”) and that relationship has continued and gone from strength to strength such that Ros is now the PSA’s principal external legal adviser on all disciplinary matters and was instructed to act for the PSA in defending the first judicial review challenge brought to its accredited register scheme.

Ros expanded and enhanced the firm’s public law practice in a number of significant respects since joining the partnership in 2014. In addition to the PSA, Ros secured the firm’s appointment as sole provider of legal services to the Regulatory team of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and undertook a secondment in the Anti-Avoidance team of the Pensions Regulator. Ros developed and implemented a programme of legal support to the Overstaying Families Intervention Team of Hackney London Borough Council, which on the Council’s own figures resulted in a saving of around £400k in its first year.

Ros was appointed as head of the firm’s information law practice in May 2018 and since then secured instructions for the team from a series of leading retail and logistics providers in the private sector, NHS bodies, including a range of NHS Trusts and NHS England, and local authorities.

Ros Foster is currently an equity partner in the Healthcare and Public Law team of Hill Dickinson LLP. Ros heads up the firm’s professional disciplinary team, specialising in healthcare regulation. Ros is also a leading member of the firm’s information law team.

Ros acts for a range of public bodies, statutory regulators and third sector bodies. Ros’ clients include the PSA, NHS England, the Royal Institute of British Architects (“RIBA”) and the CIOB, as well as a range of NHS bodies and local authorities. Ros advises clients on a wide range of contentious and non-contentious matters and has acted for clients in a number of recent, leading cases in public and disciplinary law including General Medical Council v Jagjivan [2017] EWHC 1247 (Admin), Dr Bawa-Garba v General Medical Council [2018] EWCA Civ 1879 and Miller v Health Service Commissioner for England [2018] EWCA Civ 144.  Ros regularly speaks at conferences and other events about disciplinary and regulatory law.

Ros has developed the firm’s professional disciplinary law practice to the point where it is currently principal adviser to the PSA, and the ‘go to’ adviser on all disciplinary matters for the RIBA.

Ros has conducted and is currently instructed in a number of investigations for clients that are of a confidential, highly sensitive nature and relate to senior officers. Ros was instructed by the PSA to conduct an investigation on its behalf into whistleblowing complaints about the GDC that had been made to the Secretary of State for Health and an investigation into the conduct of the then President of the RIBA that received attention in the national press. Ros has significant experience of investigations in the regulatory, charity, local government and other public sector contexts, including in relation to statutory officers and in contexts where statutory reports have been issued.

Ros regularly advises clients on a range of regulatory matters including the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 (as amended) and the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated regulations. Ros acts for the Care Quality Commission (“CQC”) in the conduct of appeals against decisions it has made in relation to the registration of care homes and registered managers.

As a leading member of the firm’s information law team, Ros regularly advises a wide range of clients in the public, private and third sectors on all aspects of data protection and freedom of information law and practice, and on the law of confidentiality, privilege and disclosure. Ros regularly delivers general and bespoke training about all aspects of information law.

English, Arabic

The Law Society

Association of Regulatory and Disciplinary Lawyers

De Montfort University: Legal Practice Course Distinction plus Award for Outstanding Performance (July 2004)

University of Birmingham LLB Law (Hons):  2:1 (July 1993)

Norwich City College:  A levels in: Economics (A), Computer Science (B), Pure Maths and Statistics (C), S Level in Economics (Merit) (August 1989)

Old Buckenham High School O’Levels in: English Literature (A), English Language (A), Maths (A), French (A), German (A), History (B), General Science (B), Computer Science (B), Domestic Science (C) (August 1987)

Ros is the proud grandmother of two boys who take up much of her time and energy outside work.

Having recently relocated to the South Coast, Ros enjoys walking and cycling along the coastline. Ros is an avid reader and enjoys theatre, sewing and knitting.