Profile
Eleanor Grey took silk in 2011. She has a thorough understanding of public authorities, especially within the health and social care sector, and of disciplinary and regulatory proceedings. Clients include the Department of Health and Social Care, NHS England, the Professional Standards Authority and the General Medical Council, as well as numerous other public bodies.
Eleanor is one of the most experienced practitioners at the Bar in the field of inquiries, reviews and investigations. She led the Department of Health and Social Care’s response to the Infected Blood Public Inquiry, and now acts for NHS England in the Covid-19 Inquiry as well as the Nottingham and Southport Inquiries. She represents the largest of the Essex Mental Health Trusts whose performance is under scrutiny in the Lampard Public Inquiry, the first public inquiry into English mental health services. She represented the Labour Party in the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse and has chaired a number of independent inquiries and reviews.
Eleanor makes frequent appearances in the Administrative Court, both in judicial review cases (such as Gardner, the ‘Covid in Care Homes’ judicial review) and in disciplinary / regulatory appeals.
Contact Us
Peter Campbell
Director of Clerking
Contact Us
Peter Campbell
Director of Clerking
Areas Of Expertise
Eleanor has superb experience in the field of Public Inquiries and non-statutory investigations, particularly in the healthcare sector.
She started her practice in this area in 1999 as Junior Counsel to the Bristol Royal Infirmary Public Inquiry. She has since acted as Counsel to the Inquiry in other healthcare inquiries, as well as representing Core Participants in the Hutton Inquiry (where she acted for the House of Commons), the Mid-Staffordshire Public Inquiry (for the Healthcare Commission) and the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (both for the Labour Party and a group of schools). She led the Counsel team for the Department of Health and Social Care in the Infected Blood Inquiry over six years. She now represents NHS England in the Covid-19 Public Inquiry, and also in the recently-established Southport and Nottingham Public Inquiries. As a former Mental Health Tribunal Judge, she is drawing on her knowledge of mental health law and treatment to represent the Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust in the Lampard Inquiry.
Eleanor has a keen interest in non-statutory investigations. She chaired a Review of the Disclosure and Barring Service’s barring functions, and a further investigation into paediatric cardiac surgery in Bristol.
She has carried out private investigations into other challenging situations, including in disciplinary matters.
As a long-standing member of the Attorney-General’s “A” Panel before taking silk in 2011, Eleanor has a thorough grounding in all aspects of public law.
In recent years, her career has usually focussed on cases involving the healthcare sector or matters related to inquiries and reviews. In 2022, she represented NHS England in “Gardner”, a challenge reviewing the Government and NHS England’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic in care homes. This was one of the leading cases of the year. The case against her clients was dismissed by the Divisional Court.
She has since acted in two high-profile challenges to NHS England’s commissioning of gender identity services and the legality of long NHS waiting lists, and for the Home Office in matters relating to the commissioning of inquiries (not reported, case settled). She regularly advises regulatory bodies in matters relating to their powers and Rules.
Cases of Note
- Gardner v SofS Health and Social Care, NHSE [2022] EWHC 967 (Admin) – A high-profile challenge to the adequacy of the Government and NHSE’s measures to protect care home residents in the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic. The Claimants alleged that insufficient care had been taken to protect residents against the risks of asymptomatic transmission of the virus. The claim was partially successful against the DHSC, but the claims against Eleanor’s clients were dismissed.
- AA v NHSE [2023] EWCA Civ 902 (CA) – A judicial review challenge to NHSE’s commissioning policies in respect of specialised gender identity services; the Court of Appeal dismissed a claim that long waiting lists across the NHS gave rise to legal claims.
- R(Castle) v NHSE (2024 – unreported, as permission refused, case withdrawn). A claim against NHSE that the commissioning arrangements for transgender patients were irrational and discriminatory, and gave rise to a risk of serious harm to 17 year olds. Permission was refused, and the claim was ultimately withdrawn in the light of the Cass Review.
- Nettleship v NHS South Tyneside Clinical Commissioning Group [2020] EWCA Civ 46 – Court of Appeal decision on the requirements of lawful consultations exercises under the NHS Act 2006, and undue delays in handing down judgments.
- R(CXF) v Central Bedfordshire Council [2018] EWCA Civ 2852, [2019] 1 WLR 1862 – Court of Appeal decision: the aftercare provisions of s117, Mental Health Act 1983 do not apply to a patient on escorted leave from hospital.
- R(Jutta) v Hertfordshire Valleys Clinical Commissioning Group [2018] EWHC 267 (Admin) – Consultation duties in the context of respite services, and their status as “health” services.
- R(Clinton) v General Medical Council [2017] EWHC 3304 (Admin) – Improper disclosure of a case examiner’s decision to complainants did not represent an abuse of process warranting a stay of disciplinary proceedings.
Eleanor frequently acts for regulators such as the Professional Standards Authority and the General Medical Council and the General Optical Council. She often represents regulators in appeals to the High Court and Court of Appeal, drawing on her knowledge of administrative law.
She has represented former Primary Care Trusts in hearings before the Family Health Services Appeal Unit (FHSAU). She has acted for pharmaceutical managers in ‘control of entry’ cases concerning the right to set up new pharmacies.
She has acted as a legal advisor to bodies such as the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, the General Social Care Council and the British Psychoanalytical Council. She chaired two Working Parties for the GMC in 2008, looking at its case management procedures.
Cases of Note
- GMC v Shah [2025] EWHC 899 (Admin) – leniency, suspension and the relevance of breaches of the Equality Act 2010.
- GMC v Rezh [2023] EWHC 3228 (Admin) – undue leniency and suspension orders.
- Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care v General Medical Council and Dr Onyekpe [2023] EWHC 2391 (Admin) – the importance of reflecting a patient’s vulnerability in disciplinary charges and proceedings.
- PSA v GMC and Battah [2022] EWHC 2075 (Admin) – Charges brought by the GMC were inadequate and should have reflected further aspects of a practitioner’s misconduct.
- Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care v General Optical Council [2021] EWHC 2888 (Admin) – The proper consideration of risk in circumstances in which an optician had failed to properly examine an eight-year-old boy who later died from a treatable condition which should have been spotted by her.
- R(Kuzmin) v General Medical Council [2019] EWHC 2129 (Admin) – Divisional Court: the Medical Tribunal is entitled to draw adverse inferences from a practitioner’s silence.
- R(Husband) v General Dental Council [2019] EWHC 2210 (Admin) – The proper interpretation of the GDC’s Rules on a ‘no case to answer’ submission.
- General Medical Council v Chandra [2019] EWCA Civ 236 [2019] 2 WLUK 381 [2018] EWCA CIV 1898 – The importance of the over-riding objective: the Medical Tribunal’s proper approach to applications for restoration to the Medical Register.
- General Optical Council v Clarke [2018] EWCA Civ 1463 – Court of Appeal decision on the relevance of retirement to fitness to practise proceedings.
Eleanor has lengthy experience of handling sensitive and high-profile cases within the healthcare sector, representing many leading figures within the healthcare sector across the last 50 years in the Infected Blood Inquiry, for example.
Eleanor has a deep knowledge of Mental Health law and has conducted difficult and sensitive tribunal hearings such as the public hearing of the late Ian Brady’s applications for discharge from hospital. Her advisory practice includes advice on issues such as the division between health and social care, as well as consultation challenges and matters relating to the protection of vulnerable adults.
