Home / People / Rachel Cooper
Portrait ofRachel Cooper

Rachel Cooper

Partner

CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang LLP
1 The Avenue
Manchester
M3 3AP
United Kingdom
Languages English

Rachel Cooper is a Partner and heads CMS’ Professional Discipline and Regulatory team.

Since 2006, Rachel has specialised in professional discipline and regulatory advisory work in the healthcare, social care and education sectors. Rachel deals with the distinct regulatory regimes in the four jurisdictions of the UK. Rachel has extensive experience advising investors in/operators of healthcare facilities, children’s and adult care services and specialist education. Her work includes undertaking due diligence (regulatory aspects) on the acquisition of private hospitals, care homes, specialist schools/colleges and children’s care/fostering services. Rachel advises on registration requirements and challenges to regulatory inspection outcomes/compliance action, undertakes internal investigations (including in the areas of safeguarding, governance and compliance), prepares reports on findings and recommendations for improvements. Rachel advises clients involved in external safeguarding investigations, Coroner inquests and independent inquires. Rachel is increasingly instructed to assist healthcare clients operating/developing online and remote services. 

Rachel has extensive professional disciplinary experience and regularly represents regulator (prosecuting cases) including the General Optical Council and General Pharmaceutical Council and regulated individuals (defending them in proceedings) including doctors, nurses, teachers and professionals registered with the Health and Care Professions Council. Rachel has acted in some of the longest running, complex and high-profile cases in proceedings brought by the General Medical Council (GMC). Rachel has a wealth of experience dealing with cases involving sexual misconduct and dishonesty.

Rachel has experience representing clients in appeals in the High Court in relation to judicial review proceedings, appeals to the First-Tier Tribunal (Care Standards) and the Upper Tier Tribunal.

Prior to a career in law, Rachel established and operated her own business for 9 years, this experience provided Rachel with a strong commercial understanding which she uses to the advantage of her clients.

Rachel is ranked a Leading Individual in Legal 500 and Band 1 Chambers and Partners.

more less

"I've never come across anyone as impressive as Rachel. She has full command of every detail and difficult questions are answered easily. She has the ability to lead the team and the ability to recognise their strengths."

Chambers, 2024

"Rachel Cooper is an outstanding lawyer who does everything she can to ensure her client's needs are met. A strong technical lawyer with an in-depth knowledge of her areas of expertise. She leaves no stone unturned."

Chambers, 2024

"She's rigorous, very thorough and has her finger on the pulse all the time."

Chambers, 2024

"What makes the practice unique is its leader Rachel Cooper. A dynamic tour de force lawyer. Leading a team by example whilst providing excellent support and encouragement."

Legal 500, 2024

"Rachel Cooper, who leads the firm's GOC and GPhC prosecution work, and is 'the standout driving force behind this team.'"

Legal 500, 2024

"Rachel is ‘fiercely committed to her clients and works harder than anyone else’."

Legal 500, 2023

"She is incredible. I don’t know any solicitor who works as hard as Rachel. She is personable, easy to get along with and clients absolutely adore her."

Chambers, 2023

"[Rachel] has an indefatigable commitment to the case and thinks five stages ahead. She is a robust and leaves no stone unturned, but has a charming manner and is a pleasure to work with."

Chambers, 2023

"Rachel’s ‘phenomenal industry and commercial nous are second to none…She brings in a high degree of case preparation, empathy and practical experience to her work. I am always very impressed by her and her willingness to go the extra mile’. "

Chambers, 2022

"[Rachel] is a brilliant lawyer who is extremely personable. She has the ability to provide outstanding legal advice while engaging with clients on a personal level."

Chambers, 2021

‘[Rachel’s] level of industry and market knowledge is amazing and her commercial acumen is unmatched’.

Chambers, 2020

"Rachel is described as ‘one of the best in the business; she’s very hard-working and gives honest, accurate advice’."

Chambers, 2019

Rachel is ‘tireless’, ‘super commercial’ and ‘amazing with clients’

Legal 500, 2018

CMS’ Healthcare group includes ‘experts in the complex area where law, regulation, politics and social policy meet’ and the team provides ‘crisp and cost-effective’ service in corporate matters, financing transactions and regulatory work.

Legal 500, 2018

Rachel is “efficient, proactive and knowledgeable’ she ‘possesses a rare combination of high-level legal skills and outstanding commercial acumen”

Legal 500, 2017

Relevant experience

  • A wide range of investors and service providers on the regulatory aspects of their business including registration (applications and challenging cancellation), group restructuring, regulatory inspection outcomes, safeguarding incidents, internal investigations, regulatory compliance and governance. Rachel’s work includes assisting providers and investors in adult social care, children’s services (care homes, fostering agencies, schools and nurseries) and private healthcare providers.
  • A specialist adult care provider in an organisational abuse enquiry concerning a large number of safeguarding incidents involving service users. Rachel assisted the client to secure an outcome of no finding of organisational abuse.
  • The former Chief Executive of the employer NHS Trust of Ian Paterson and following a GMC investigation which lasted over 9 years (including a hearing before the Medical Practitioners Tribunal lasting over 80 days), secured an outcome of no allegations found proven and no finding of impairment of fitness to practise against her client. Rachel successfully secured orders for a costs award against the GMC for her clients.
  • An education provider challenging the findings of an Ofsted inspection. She successfully obtained an injunction prevent publication of the Ofsted report and a Court order preventing reporting of the proceedings pending the outcome of the judicial review.
  • On the regulatory implications of operating a virtual clinic across all UK jurisdictions, which would be operated via an app with the main function of facilitating video consultations.  The Virtual Clinics would also enable clinicals to remotely monitor, access and adjust fitted healthcare devices according to patient need.
more less

Memberships & Roles

  • Association of Regulatory and Disciplinary Lawyers (ARDL) (former Committee Member 2014-2018).
more less

Education

  • 2001 – LPC, College of Law, Chester.
  • 2000 – LLB (Hons), Lancaster University.
more less

Feed

18/01/2024
Out with the old, in with the new – what do healthcare and social care...
And so it has begun – the rollout of the long-awaited CQC’s new assessment regime is underway.   Having commenced in the South of England and working region by region, registered providers in London...
09/01/2024
Ofsted under scrutiny – School inspections to resume on 22 January 2024...
The inquest into the devastating suicide of headteacher Ruth Perry sparked a national conversation about the impact of Ofsted inspections on school leaders and their well-being and whether the current...
03/03/2023
Children’s Social Care - A Strategy for Renewal?
The Department for Education has announced the government’s plans to transform children’s social care centralising families in future reform. In February 2023, the government published the Children’s...
22/08/2022
NHS Staffing Crisis – Where do we go from here?
It is no secret that the NHS staff supply is in crisis. Official figures show that in March 2022, 105,855 health services posts were unfilled in England. According to health service vacancies published...
16/08/2022
After-school club Ofsted registration – is it required?
In the past five years, 84 safeguarding referrals have been made regarding incidents taking place at after-school clubs in England and Wales. A high number of these incidents have included assaults, neglect...
05/08/2022
Closing the gaps to protect society’s most vulnerable – are you affected...
The ongoing issues surrounding unregulated children’s social care continue. We last wrote about the problem of unregulated children’s services in England in our article dated 17 March 2022, following...
14/06/2022
Expert child protection units –  will they provide much needed national...
In July 2018, the independent national Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel (‘the Panel’), was set up as an independent body to identify, commission and oversee reviews of serious child safeguarding...
19/05/2022
Levelling the playing field?
Ofsted introduced a new education inspection framework in September 2019 and it was considered that the new framework moved away from conducting inspections based heavily on data to including a judgment...
10/05/2022
Fine-tuning Joint Targeted Area Inspections - A new era?
Multi-agency Joint Targeted Area Inspections ('JTAI') are making a comeback. Ofsted, the Care Quality Commission ('CQC') and Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services ('HMICFRS')...
28/04/2022
Government failed care home residents with ‘unlawful’ hospital discharge...
The High Court released their judgment yesterday in the judicial review proceedings brought by Dr Cathy Gardner and Fay Harris, whose fathers Michael Gibson and Donald Harris, died in care homes after...
27/04/2022
Restraint, Seclusion and Segregation – stamping out Social Care’s unacceptable...
In October 2018, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care asked the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to review restraint, seclusion and segregation for people in social care who are autistic, with...
23/03/2022
Navigating the regulatory labyrinth of online prescribing
The Covid-19 pandemic has had a profound impact upon the delivery of healthcare over the last two years, not least in the enhanced accessibility of health services via remote means. The initial need...