Initially a clinician and medical scientist, Carol became the Director of the Centre for Connective Tissue Disorders at the Royal Free Hospital, the second woman President of the Royal College of Physicians, and Chair of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges. The Centre she established at the Royal Free is internationally renowned for research and treatment of scleroderma. She was appointed CBE in 2002, a DBE in 2005, and in 2024 she was appointed GBE for public service. 

She chaired the Nuffield Trust for policy studies and wrote three influential independent reviews for Government on workers’ health and sickness. In 2021 she published a fourth independent review, on illicit drugs, demand, supply, treatment and recovery, leading to a 10-year strategy with substantial government investment. A former Principal of Newnham College, Cambridge, she is now Chair of the British Library, the Centre for Ageing Better and, since September 2025, the Centre for Homelessness Impact.