Lisa Rafferty, Managing Director
With decades of senior leadership experience across regulated settings, we understand what it takes to achieve outstanding outcomes, not only in inspections, but for the lives of the children and young people entrusted to your care.
With over 15 years of senior management experience, Lisa has led and transformed a wide range of regulated services, including children's residential settings, secure adult units and young offender and adult custodial environments. She has consistently delivered Outstanding inspection outcomes and successfully transformed services from Requires Improvement to high performing, stable, and compliant homes.
As the founder of Woodland Care Consultants, she brings extensive experience in working within regulatory frameworks, safeguarding leadership, and driving cultural change within services, creating open, transparent workplace cultures where staff feel supported, valued, and professionally accountable.
Lisa has significant experience in human resources management, project management and operational mobilisation. Her experience includes conducting complex workplace investigations, managing disciplinary and grievance procedures, supporting employment tribunal matters and advising organisations on employee relations.
Lisa has also played a key role in the mobilisation of a new prison, supporting the development and implementation of new operational functions, systems and processes. She has experience establishing governance arrangements, creating effective working procedures, coordinating multi-disciplinary teams and ensuring that new services are safely and effectively embedded into practice.
Her approach is structured, fair and evidence-based, with a strong focus on compliance, accountability, operational excellence and sustainable service development.
Lisa currently works as a consultant Responsible Individual and Regulation 44 Visitor, providing specialist support and guidance to care providers.
Her approach is hands on, quality focused, and rooted in achieving measurable improvement while ensuring children feel safe, valued, and supported. Her inspection track record reflects strong leadership, robust governance, and an unwavering commitment to high standards of care.
Our Team
At Woodland Care Consultants, we have a strong team of experienced professionals with backgrounds across children’s residential care, safeguarding, quality assurance, service improvement and safer recruitment.
Our consultants bring practical experience from regulated care settings, including children’s homes, complex needs services, EBD and LD provisions, safeguarding, workforce development and Ofsted readiness.
Our team includes experienced Regulation 44 Visitors, Children’s Social Care Consultants, Registered Managers, Responsible Individuals, qualified social workers and senior leaders. Together, they provide independent oversight, clear guidance and hands on support to help providers strengthen practice, improve compliance and create safe, stable and child centred services.
Woodland Care Consultants is committed to offering practical, honest and improvement focused support that helps children’s services achieve positive outcomes and maintain high standards of care.
