Peter Coe graduated from York University in 1970 with a degree in mediaeval history. He initially worked as conservation officer to the Council for the Care of Churches before commencing as a national trainee in NHS management. He continued to direct archaeological sites for the Department of the Environment until 1976 when his NHS responsibilities prevented taking his annual leave in the summer season! By 1982 he had been appointed deputy to the Chief Executive at North West Thames Regional Health Authority with responsibilities for both service and capital planning; as well as introducing into the Region the Public Accounts Committee’s requirements for Public Accountability of Health Authorities. During the 1990s, he was a member of several NHS working groups including the government’s working party on the role and function of “the health authority” and the Chief Medical and Chief Nursing Officer’s joint working group on clinical skills assessment and appraisal. He was Chief Executive to North and East Hertfordshire Health Authorities from 1988 to 1992 when he was appointed as Chief Executive to East London and the City Health Authority. He was seconded to manage the Prison Health Service in 1999 and in 2000 retired from the NHS.
He commenced as Registrar of the General Optical Council in 2001; and was responsible for the introduction of the Council’s recommended new Regulatory framework which reflected the Government’s White Paper on the regulation of health care professionals. An enthusiastic participant in the European Committee for Opticians, he assisted in the development of a European recommended Code of Professional Practice as well as a European wide process for Continuous Education and Training. After his retirement from the GOC, he was awarded, in 2009, the taught MA in archaeology at the Institute of Archaeology at University College London. Since then he has been undertaking research in the issues relating to the regulation of listed buildings and conservation areas. He intends to complete his doctoral thesis by 2013. He continues to have an avid interest in health care and particularly optical care. He is a liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Spectaclemakers and was appointed Independent Adjudicator of the UK domiciliary eye-care service in 2011.