National Clinical Director for Improvement, NHS England; UK

Dr Amar Shah is a Consultant forensic psychiatrist & has held the role of Chief Quality Officer at East London NHS Foundation Trust (ELFT) since 2017. He leads at executive and Board level on quality, performance, strategy, planning, analytics and communications. Amar has led the approach to quality at ELFT for over a decade, and has embedded a large-scale quality improvement infrastructure and quality management system, with demonstrable results across key areas of organisational performance, and three consecutive ‘Outstanding’ ratings by the Care Quality Commission.

Amar is the National Clinical Director for Improvement in England, leading the application of improvement across England’s health and care system since 2023.

He is the national improvement lead for mental health at the Royal College of Psychiatrists, leading a number of large-scale improvement collaboratives on topics such as restrictive practice, workforce wellbeing and equalities.

Amar is chair of the Scientific Advisory Group at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), and also acts as faculty with IHI, teaching and guiding improvers and healthcare systems across the world.

He is honorary professor at the University of York School for Business and Society, and an honorary fellow with the Faculty for Public Health. Amar has completed an executive MBA in healthcare management, a masters in mental health law and a postgraduate certificate in medical education. He is a regular national and international keynote speaker at healthcare improvement conferences and has published over 50 peer-review articles in the field of quality management. He was awarded an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) by His Majesty the King in 2024 for services to healthcare improvement.

Chief Executive Officer, BC Patient Safety & Quality Council; Canada

Christina Krause is the Chief Executive Officer of the BC Patient Safety & Quality Council and an Adjunct Professor, School of Population & Public Health, Faculty of Medicine at the University of British Columbia. Her interests include the use of social change models and network theory in efforts to engage and mobilize stakeholders, as well as the role of culture, teamwork and communication to advance quality of care. Christina is an EXTRA Fellow with the Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement, a member of the Board for the OSNS Child & Youth Development Centre, and a member of the Board Quality Committee at Canuck Place Children’s Hospice.

Inspector and Professor, Dutch Health and Youth Care Inspectorate / Erasmus School of Health Policy & Management; Netherlands

Ian Leistikow is inspector at the Dutch Health & Youth Care Inspectorate and professor at Erasmus University Rotterdam where he conducts and supervises research into ‘governmental regulation of health and care quality’. He is a non-practicing physician. In 2011 Ian became member of the Program Advisory Committee of the International Forum on Quality and Safety in Healthcare. Ian is board member of SINC, an international collaboration of European health and care regulators. Ian teaches and publishes about patient safety and the role of regulation. In 2017 CRC Press published his book “Prevention is better than cure”, on learning from adverse events in healthcare.

Co-chair of the Lived Experience and Communities Panel; UK

Gabrielle is a multi-award-winning children and young people’s health advocate. A long-term patient, she role models the inclusion of patients in strategic decision-making as a member of the NHS Assembly. She sits as an Oversight Board member to the Research and Economic Analysis for the Long term (REAL) centre at the Health Foundation. She is a member of the General Advisory Council at the King’s Fund. Her advocacy work extends beyond healthcare; She is a board member of the #iwill movement and a trustee of UK Youth, an organisation that supports over 7000 youth organisations and collectively reaches 4.1 million young people. Gabrielle is an academic foundation doctor in North Central London with an interest in co-production and power in both research and policy development. Her current thinking is focused on individual and systems leadership and how we can equip and mobilise all health care professionals to lead with and for kindness.

Co-Chair, Next Generation Advisory Panel, Public Health Registrar, Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust; England

Dr. Jamie Smyth is an emerging leader in public health, blending clinical insight with a passion for system-wide improvement and leadership development. Currently a trainee in specialist public health and alumni of the National Medical Director’s Clinical Fellowship (2022/23), Jamie has already influenced medical leadership across multiple platforms. He served as Deputy Chair of the Faculty of Medical Leadership & Management (FMLM) Trainee Steering Group, co-founded the Aspiring Leaders in Healthcare network, and hosts the FMLM podcast focused on healthcare leadership and equity. Jamie is deeply committed to nurturing the next generation of health professionals and believes in the power of multi-generational collaboration to tackle complex health challenges and reduce inequalities.