Dr Andrew McDonald is a writer and a campaigner. He was born in 1962 and spent most of his career as a civil servant, initially working in the National Archives and, subsequently, in the Cabinet Office and Ministry of Justice. His last executive role was as Chief Executive of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, the regulator established to tackle MPs’ expenses crisis. He took medical retirement in 2014. Andrew’s work as a campaigner has primarily concerned the rights of patients and of disabled people. This work has been sparked by his own diagnosis with Parkinson’s (2007) and prostate cancer (2010). Andrew was chair of the pan-disability charity Scope from 2014 to 2019, overseeing the development of its radical new strategy and reforming its governance. He has spoken publicly about his experience of disability, including the shortcomings of the benefits system. Andrew has chaired the patient advocacy group Chapter 2 since 2015. This has concerned itself with improving the quality of communications with patients. This has been an important theme for Andrew for the last decade. He lectured on this in 2014 and 2016, writing the report The Long and Winding Road, which argued that investment in the communication skills of healthcare professionals was likely to save costs and improve the patient experience. Since 2017 he has been working with NHS England on implementation of these ideas. He is convenor of the Chapter Two Group.