John has held a number of senior positions in a variety of academic management areas. He has had roles in international development, international student recruitment and curriculum development. He was formerly Associate Professor at Nottingham Law School, Nottingham Trent University and prior to that worked in Further, Higher Education in London, Worcester and practiced as a Barrister.

His research has focussed on how the law relates to nursing, medicine and the tort aspects of patient safety initiatives. Further work has been done on national, global patient safety law and governance particularly in developing and transitioning countries. How to develop a patient centric safety system and just culture in health care systems, nationally in the NHS and globally.