Keynote Speakers
Derek Feeley
Former CEO and President, Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI); Scotland
Derek Feeley, CB, DBA, is a Senior Fellow at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI). He returned home to Scotland in 2020 having spent seven years with IHI, latterly as President and Chief Executive. He was responsible for driving IHI’s mission and strategy to improve health and health care worldwide. On his return to Scotland, he was appointed as the Chair of the Independent Review of Adult Social Care which reported to the Scottish Government in February 2021. He serves as Board Advisor to the East London Foundation Trust, is a Board member of the Institute for Research and Innovation in Social Services and an Honorary Professor at the University of the West of Scotland. He also coaches and mentors several senior people in NHS Organisations. Prior to joining IHI, Derek was the Director General for Health and Social Care in the Scottish Government and the Chief executive of NHS Scotland. In that position, he was the principal advisor to the Scottish Government on all health, health care, and social care policy matters as well as having leadership responsibility for NHS Scotland’s 140,000 staff. In 2013, Derek was made a Companion of the Order of the Bath by Her Late Majesty the Queen.
Donald M. Berwick
President Emeritus and Senior Fellow, Institute for Healthcare Improvement; USA
Donald M. Berwick is one of the leading scholars, teachers, and advocates in the world for the continual improvement of health care systems. He is a pediatrician, and a longstanding member of the faculty of Harvard Medical School. He founded and led the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, now the leading global nonprofit organization in its field. He was appointed by President Obama as administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, where he served in 2010 and 2011. He has counselled governments, clinical leaders, and executives in dozens of nations. He is an elected Member of the National Academy of Medicine and the American Philosophical Society. He has received numerous awards, including the Heinz Award for Public Policy, the Award of Honor of the American Hospital Association, and the Gustav Leinhard Award from the Institute of Medicine. For his work with the British National Health Service, in 2005 Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II appointed him Honourary Knight Commander of the British Empire, the highest honor awarded by the UK to a non-British subject.
Euan Wallace
Secretary, Victorian Department of Health; Australia
Professor Euan Wallace commenced as Secretary of the Department of Health in November 2020. Euan is an academic obstetrician and gynaecologist by training. With more than 30 years’ experience in clinical practice and medical research, and 15 years’ experience in clinical leadership and governance, Euan is a strong advocate for healthcare improvement and the consumer voice. Euan was the inaugural CEO of Safer Care Victoria, the state’s lead agency for healthcare quality and safety. In July 2020, he was seconded to DHHS as Deputy Secretary, jointly responsible for case management, contact tracing and outbreak management. Euan was also formerly the Carl Wood Professor and Head of Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Monash University. His research interests are in foetal development, maternal health, stem cell biology and patient safety.
Pat Dudgeon
Poche Centre for Aboriginal Health and the School of Indigenous Studies at UWA; Australia
Pat Dudgeon is from the Bardi people in Western Australia. She is a psychologist and professor at the Poche Centre for Aboriginal Health and the School of Indigenous Studies at UWA. Her area of research includes Indigenous social and emotional wellbeing and suicide prevention. She is the director of the Centre of Best Practice in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention at UWA. She is also the lead chief investigator of a national research project, Transforming Indigenous Mental Health and Wellbeing that aims to develop approaches to Indigenous mental health services that promote cultural values and strengths as well as empowering users. She has many publications in Indigenous mental health, in particular, the Working Together Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Mental Health and Wellbeing Principals and Practice 2014.
Shannon Cohn
Producer & Director, Project Endo; USA
Shannon Cohn a filmmaker, lawyer and social movement builder who has worked across Africa, Europe, the Middle East & the Americas on topics related to gender equity, inclusion initiatives and combating stigma and taboo. Her films and TV series have aired on PBS, Nat Geo, Discovery Channel, Amazon and Netflix. Her new film, Below the Belt, is produced by Hillary Rodham Clinton and Rosario Dawson and approaches endometriosis as a social justice issue. Before becoming a filmmaker, Shannon practiced international law and was part of the legal team that prosecuted Enron.
Special guest: Slava Grigoryan
Classical guitar virtuoso
Regarded as a wizard of the guitar, Slava has forged a prolific reputation as a classical guitar virtuoso. Collaborations have played a huge part in Grigoryan’s career, most notable of these are in the trio with legendary USA guitarist Ralph Towner and Austrian guitarist Wolfgang Muthspiel and the duo with brother Leonard Grigoryan. He has received 4 ARIA awards and an incredible 24 ARIA Award nominations. He has been touring internationally since 2003, regularly performing throughout Europe, Asia, Australia and the USA, as well as more exotic performances in Brazil, South Africa, India and the Middle East. Slava is the Artistic Director of the Adelaide Guitar Festival, a position he has held since 2009.
At the International Forum on Quality and Safety in Healthcare in Melbourne, Slava will be performing pieces from his most recent collaboration with the Hush Foundation, an album called ‘Gratitudes’. Slava began writing this music during the pandemic, as an expression of thanks to healthcare workers and recognition of their selfless support of patients. We know that this has come at a cost for many and that reminders that our efforts are appreciated can help us all to cope better. ‘Gratitudes’ is the Hush Foundation’s 20th Album and represents 20 years of original music composed and performed specially for healthcare environments by some of Australia’s foremost musicians. The albums are designed to reduce stress in inherently stressful healthcare environments. In 2023, Hush Foundation founder and Chair, Professor Catherine Crock won an Australian Independent Record (AIR) Award for her outstanding contribution to Australian Music and the Hush story was greeted by the music industry with a standing ovation.
Special guest: Ed Le Brocq (Ayres)
Writer, music teacher and broadcaster
Ed Le Brocq is a writer, music teacher and broadcaster. He was born on the White Cliffs of Dover and began playing music when he was six years old. After music studies in Manchester, Berlin and London he played professionally in the UK and Hong Kong, moving to Australia in 2003. Ed is the presenter of ABC Classic’s Weekend Breakfast. Ed has written four books – Cadence, about his journey by bicycle from England to Hong Kong with only a violin for company; Danger Music, describing his year teaching music in Afghanistan; Sonam and the Silence, a children’s book about the importance of music, and his most recent, Whole Notes – Life Lessons in Music. Ed’s books have been shortlisted for several prestigious awards, including the Prime Minister’s Literary Awards.
Other Speakers
Aaron Hall
Program Manager Patient Reported Measures, Agency for Clinical Innovation; Australia
Aaron Hall is the Program Manager, Patient Reported Measures at the Agency for Clinical Innovation (ACI). He is part of the Integrated Digital Enablement Accelerator (IDEA) team and involved with driving system transformation by bringing people, process, and technology together. Aaron leads a dynamic team with a focus on improving the outcomes and experiences for people accessing and receiving care, as well as improving the experiences of those healthcare teams delivering care. Patient Reported Measures is Aaron’s priority program area – contributing to the Value Based Healthcare approach in NSW Health. Before his time at the ACI, Aaron has led a number of local service level changes in his 8 years within Nepean Blue Mountain Local Health District (NBMLHD). With his background as a physiotherapist and interest area of geriatrics and musculoskeletal initiatives, this is where his passion for person centred care originated.
Abby Foster
Allied Health Research Advisor, Monash Health & Monash University; Australia
Abby is an allied health clinician, researcher and manager with extensive experience providing services in the Australian public health sector. Holding a doctorate from The University of Queensland, Abby is employed as the Allied Health Research Advisor at Monash Health. She loves talking nerdy about qualitative research, and her research is collaborative and multidisciplinary. She focuses her work on creating systems that reduce barriers to healthcare, and supporting allied health clinicians to be their best and love their work
Alan Parsons
Elder, artist, activist and storyteller
Uncle Alan Parsons is a highly respected nomadic Elder, artist, activist and storyteller. Uncle Alan is heavily involved in his community, having contributed actively to significant reforms of disability legislation, Indigenous advocacy, and working with healthcare and other organisations, individuals and pre-school children around connecting to Country, unification and healing. His mob are the Bidjira people from Canarvon Gorge and he has lived in the Caboolture area, Queensland since the late 1960’s
Alana English
Advanced Social Worker, Queensland Paediatric Sepsis Program, Queensland Health; Australia
Alana English (BSW, BA (Psych) has worked as a Clinical Social Worker for 30 years, with the last 13 years being with Qld Paediatric Rehabilitation Ser- vice, at Mater Children’s Hospital and Queensland Children’s Hospital. Cur- rently, in addition to her own private practice, in which she offers organisa- tional training and clinical supervision, Alana works with the Queensland Paediatric Sepsis Program. This role focuses on development and implemen- tation of a family support structure, including a post sepsis model of care for families with a child diagnosed with sepsis. Alana has worked in a variety of clinical and program positions, including hospital based Social Work, paediatric rehabilitation, child and youth mental health, and organisational psychology. Across her career, she has remained passionate about supporting children, young people and families with their experience of grief and loss, using a strengths-based approach which validates their individual experience and promotes resilience.
Allan Pelkowitz
Regional Medical Director, WA Country Health Service; Australia
Dr Allan Pelkowitz obtained his medical degree in South Africa, lived the first half of his professional life in New Zealand and moved with his family to Australia 17 years ago. In New Zealand Dr Pelkowitz worked as a GP before accepting clinical management roles, helping to set up improvement projects in cardiovascular disease and endoscopy as well as streamlining GP interactions with hospital outpatients. One of these projects, reducing unnecessary gastroscopies, won the NZ Quality in Healthcare Award in 2003. Dr Pelkowitz is currently Regional Medical Director for WACHS Midwest, a region spanning over 200,000 square kilometres. His current projects include outpatient redesign and he is the WACHS medical lead for Digital Innovation.
Alison Starr
Improvement Advisor Faculty, Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI); USA
Alison Starr, she/her, an Improvement Advisor at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), lives in Armidale on the Anaiwan lands of Northern New South Wales. She has worked on several national and state-wide improvement collaboratives. She joined the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) as Faculty in 2018, and since then has taught on multiple capability-building programs in the Asia Pacific Region, as well as supporting results-oriented programs including the Timely Emergency Care Collaborative in Victoria, Australia and the Diabetes Collaborative in Singapore.
Angelene True
Prestantia Health; Australia
Angelene is Principal Consultant at Prestantia Health. She has a diverse background across Executive level positions in health, higher education and social care, and experience of working in community advocacy, legislative and health service review, health service system redesign and commissioning, academia and local government policy and partnerships. She has provided health service advisory services to micro, meso and macro level organisations in the UK and Australia. She is passionate about higher performing primary health care as the foundation of a safe, equitable and sustainable healthcare system. She was the National Facilitator on the Health Care Home trial and continues to support health systems and service providers improve service quality and integration through the co-design, development and delivery of innovative models of person-centred and value-based health care.
Anna Tong
Senior Health Informatician, Hospital Authority; Hong Kong
Speaker bio coming soon. Dr Anna Tong is a Chief Manager of the Information Technology and Health Informatics Division at the Hong Kong Hospital Authority (HA). The HA is responsible for managing public hospital services in Hong Kong, which encompass 43 hospitals and 122 clinics. The HA’s Clinical Management System has been integrated into major care delivery processes, enabling each patient with an interoperable electronic medical record. Dr Tong is deeply committed to utilizing the extensive volume of data within the HA to generate value for clinical information management and enhance service outcomes. She has recently played an important role in the Smart Hospital Programme, leading the development of products aimed at optimizing clinical resource utilization and promoting patient-centered care. In addition, Dr Tong collaborates with the Government to operate and enhance the territory-wide Electronic Health Record Sharing System (eHRSS). The eHRSS serves as a platform for sharing electronic patient health records among both the public and private healthcare sectors, facilitating healthcare reform in Hong Kong. Beyond her role at the HA, Dr Tong actively shares her expertise in health informatics through lectures at universities and as a speaker at local and international conferences. She is a specialist in Emergency Medicine and holds Master degrees in Business Administration in Healthcare and Public Health, both obtained from the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Dr Tong’s diverse background equips her with a comprehensive understanding of healthcare management and the utilization of technology to improve patient care.
Ashfaq Chauhan
Research Fellow, Australian Institute of Health Innovation, Macquarie University; Australia
Dr Ashfaq Chauhan (PhD; MHM; MIPH; BPT) is a Research Fellow at the Australian Institute of Health Innovation in Macquarie University. Ashfaq is a Physiotherapist with over 10 years of clinical experience. Ashfaq’s research, with health agency partners in Australia, explores patient safety, consumer engagement, engagement in healthcare for priority population groups, change implementation and management, change readiness and commitment amongst healthcare staff, co-design methodology and the implementation of co-designed change in healthcare. He is recipient of Research Training Program (RTP) Scholarship and Macquarie University Excellence in Research Training Scholarship. Ashfaq also regularly contributes as a sessional academic staff in the delivery of Master of Health Leadership and Management program at UNSW.
Bede McKenna
Executive Director, St Vincent's Hospital Melbourne; Australia
Bede McKenna is a data analyst with St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne. His route to working in data was somewhat unconventional, studying English literature and working at a short story magazine, which has informed his philosophy that strong communication and collaboration will lead to greater results more than technical perfection will. The patient is at forefront of Bede’s approach to data and technical solutions he greatly enjoys working with clinicians and removing obstacles for them to allow for more time spent providing care. Bede’s progressive and energetic approach to has resulted in him pioneering the use of AI in the operational settings at SVHM.
Benjamin Thomson
Chief Surgical Advisor, Victorian Department of Health; Australia
Professor Ben Thomson, Chief Surgical Adviser, is a hepatopancreaticobiliary (HPB), general and trauma surgeon. He is the Clinical Director of Surgery at The Royal Melbourne Hospital and recently finished as the Director of the Upper Gastrointestinal Tumour Stream across the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and The Royal Melbourne Hospital. Ben is also an Honorary Clinical Professor at The University of Melbourne and is a Board member of the Australian and New Zealand Hepatic, Pancreatic and Biliary Association.
Bernie Harrison
Grad Cert Med Ed| RN| RM| FCHSM CHE, Director, ACHS Improvement Academy; Australia
Grad Cert Med Ed| RN| RM| FCHSM CHE, Director, ACHS Improvement Academy
Bernie Harrison has over 30yrs experience in health care, as a clinician, researcher and quality and safety expert. She is an expert in Root Cause Analysis and Quality Improvement, conducting training programs in these methodologies across Australia. She regularly provides advice and leads significant RCAs and System reviews in the Australian health care system which drive improvements for patients and clients. Her training in quality improvement and patient safety occurred in the USA in 2001 and 2010 as a Fulbright Scholar. She co-authored the Quality in Australian Health Care Study (MJA 1995), the most cited paper in the journal’s 100yr history. Her previous positions include: Executive Director of Hospital Performance for the National Health Performance Authority and Director in the NSW Clinical Excellence Commission. Her clinical experience as a registered nurse and midwife in the UK and Australia include, maternity and child health, paediatrics, and neurosurgical intensive care.
Beverly Sutton
CEO, Health Education Australia
Beverley Sutton is the CEO of Health Education Australia Limited (HEAL) a 100-year-old not-for-profit organisation that has a proud and rich history of providing health professions education – originally to doctors returning from WWI. The Australasian Institute of Clinical Governance (AICG) is a division of HEAL that was established with a vision to ensure safe and quality care through excellence in clinical governance. Prior to HEAL, Beverley held executive positions as the Director of Medical Support Services at Northern Health and the Director of Medical Workforce and Education at Austin Health. She commenced her career as a registered nurse and midwife, worked in research at The University of Melbourne and Monash University and in the corporate environment as a Senior Consultant at Arthur Andersen and a major IT company, Unisys. She is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (GAICD) and a Fellow of the Australasian College of Health Service Management (FACHSM).
Bianca Forrester
GP Academic, Western Victoria Primary Health Network; Australia
Bianca Forrester is a GP academic at the Department of General Practice Primary care, University of Melbourne (DGPPC UoM) and the clinical lead of innovation and learning at the Western Victorian Primary Health Network (WVPHN). Living and working in regional Victoria, Bianca has developed skills as an educator and systems change facilitator. Since March 2020, she has led a rapid learning network for primary care, focusing on policy and best practice implementation through the COVID-19 pandemic. Beyond the pandemic, she is leading organisations activities through a transition towards a learning health system operating model to address other population health and complex problems in healthcare. As an academic GP, she leads the clinical training program for the Doctors in Secondary schools’ Victorian government initiative and completing her Masters of Adolescent Health and wellbeing. She produces a podcast called The Maze Phase: for primary care professionals working with teens navigating life and the healthcare system.
Briana Baass
Healthcare Worker, Wellbeing Centre at Safer Care Victoria; Australia
Speaker bio coming soon.
Brigitte Sigl
Consumer representative, NSW Clinical Excellence Commission; Australia
Bavarian, wife, mother, grandmother and MS warrior. Over the past 10 years, I have been engaged as a consumer representative and consumer consultant with:
-the Clinical Excellence Commission
-NSW Regional Health Partners
-eHealth NSW
-Central Coast Local Health District
-Ministry of Health NSW
-Flinders University (SA)
-Agency for Clinical Innovation
-the Center for Women’s Health Research
-Monash University Melbourne
Additionally, I am the President of my local MS Society and member of the Beryl Institute, where I obtained the Certificate of Patient Experience Leadership. After being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis my life took quite a turn, but being a stoic person, I was able to fight back and love and appreciate to get the most and best out of life. This is also what I try to apply in my consumer input – everyone in our society/community should have the opportunity to live their best life, with the best possible and most dignified support. I’m always looking to meet new people, learn, widen and enhance my knowledge, and build bridges between health pillars, researchers and consumers.
Caroline Bartle
Implementation Manager, Commission on Excellence and Innovation in Health; Australia
Caroline Bartle, Implementation Manager, Patient Reported Measures Program. Caroline has worked in the South Australian public health system as a Clinical Dietitian and for the Electronic Medical Record Project, giving her unique perspectives on patient-centred care, stakeholder engagement and change management. She has post-graduate qualifications in Health Economics, Public Health and Management. Caroline is passionate about health equity, healthcare quality and Patient Reported Measures.
Catherine Crock
Hush Foundation and the Gathering of Kindness; Australia
Professor Crock AM is a Physician at the Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne, and the Founder and Chair of the Hush Foundation, which she founded in 2000. The Hush Foundation is a not-for-profit organisation working to educate, inspire and enact positive change in healthcare through kindness and the Arts. Catherine has implemented a range of positive changes to improve partnerships between patients, families, and staff and to transform the healthcare environment for everyone working and receiving care within it. The Hush Foundation delivers original music, theatre, literature, dialogues, resources with demonstrated impact on culture change, staff wellbeing, patient experience and quality and safety. Catherine was recipient of a Churchill Fellowship in 2009 and became a Member of the Order of Australia in 2015 for her contribution to medicine, to community healthcare standards and to the Arts. In 2020 her work was recognised with a Monash Fellowship 2020 and in 2023 she received an Australian Independent Records Award for outstanding contribution to Australian Music. She is also a Professor at Deakin University, Centre for Social and Early Emotional Development. www.hush.org.au www.gatheringofkindness.org
Cathy Balding
Board Facilitator, Australasian Institute of Clinical Governance and Qualityworks P/L, Australia
Cathy works with human services’ boards, executives and leaders to ‘make quality make sense’; specialising in strategic clinical governance systems with purpose that focus on achieving a high quality point of care and service experience. After a career as a health service executive, accreditation assessor and quality policymaker, Cathy decided it was time to get to the bottom of how leaders and managers can shape quality and clinical governance systems for consistently good care. She has since written three books on this topic and has conducted published research into characteristics of effective quality and clinical governance systems. This flows into her work with organisations who want to go beyond compliance to lead meaningful, motivating and practical approaches to creating great point of care experiences. Her goal is simple: to make it easier for human services to deliver care they are proud of – and to enjoy the process!
Chi Hong Hwang
Ministry of Health Singapore
Chi Hong is a trained Family Medicine Physician with a passion for Quality and Patient Safety. He led one of Singapore’s public primary care groups to be the first primary care organisation in Asia to achieve the Joint Commission International (JCI) accreditation in 2008. In 2010, Chi Hong joined the JurongHealth team to build a new public hospital system in the west of Singapore. In 2017, with JurongHealth’s incorporation into the National University Health System, he moved into his current role as Director, Quality, Innovation and Improvement. His interest is in developing effective quality frameworks in organisations. He aims to train 25% of his hospital’s staff in quality improvement methods by 2023, and to embed a culture of continuous improvement in daily work. As of Sep 2023, Chi Hong also took on the role of Director of National Collaboratives at the National Improvement Unit (NIU). In this capacity, he leads NIU in deepening the national improvement culture, fostering collaboration across the healthcare ecosystem, and building the next generation of improvement leaders.
Chris Turner
University Hospitals of Coventry and Warwickshire, England
Chris Turner is a consultant in emergency medicine at University Hospitals of Coventry and Warwickshire. He founded and runs Civility Saves Lives, a campaign that aims to raise awareness of the power of civility in healthcare.
Christobel Saunders
Clinical Professor, The University of Western Australia; Australia
Professor Christobel Saunders AO, MB BS, FRCS, FRACS, FAAHMS is the James Stewart Chair of Surgery, the Head of the Department of Surgery at the University of Melbourne (Royal Melbourne Hospital precinct), Director Medical Research at Melbourne Medical School, and consultant surgeon in the Department of General Surgery at Royal Melbourne Hospital and the Peter MacCallum Cancer Institute. Christobel is internationally recognised as one of Australia’s most prominent research-orientated cancer surgeons. She has substantially contributed to breast cancer research, including clinical trials of new treatments, and psychosocial, translational and health services research. In recognition of her sustained career excellence and innovation, Christobel has been publicly acknowledged through numerous awards and honours including the Order of Australia 2018, the Uccio Querci della Rovere Award (2018), WA Women’s Hall of Fame Inductee (2018), WA Scientist of the Year (2017), Cancer Council WA Career Achievement Award (2021) and was elected to the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Science in 2016. She has performed research for >30 years evaluating the efficacy and utility of therapy for early breast cancer. In the past five years, Christobel has published over 200 peer-reviewed journal articles. She sits on the boards of several health and research organisations including as Vice-President for All. Can International and on the boards of All. Can Australia, Breast Cancer Trials, the Australian Centre for Value-Based Health Care and PathWest. Christobel is closely involved in strategic planning and management of health and cancer services in Australia including being a member of the Medicare Review Advisory Committee, panel member of the Medical Services Advisory Committee, past President of the Breast Surgical Society of ANZ, and past Advisory Council member of Cancer Australia. She was the Inaugural Chair of the state Health Service Provider, PathWest Laboratory Medicine.
Claire Doherty
Senior Research and Evaluation Officer, St Vincent's Hospital Melbourne; Australia
Claire Doherty is a Senior Research and Evaluation Officer at St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne with the Healthcare for the Homeless Department. She has worked across clinical, operations, research and project management areas of healthcare at both a health service and State Government level. Claire combined her keen interest in public health, research, monitoring and evaluation and working with priority communities to support the development, coordination and implementation of this research study. Claire is a strong advocate for measurement and believes that all improvements stem from measuring the right thing.
Clarissa Torcasio
Simulation Co-ordinator, Department of Education and Learning, St. Vincent’s Hospital; England
Speaker bio coming soon.
Corey Joseph
Clinical Research Coordinator, Victorian Refugee Health Network, Monash Health; Australia
Corey is the Clinical Research Coordinator in the Refugee Health and Priority Populations team at Monash Health. He is an experienced researcher with a PhD in Applied Science (biomechanics). He has over publications, including book chapters and conference papers and a H index of 13. Corey’s work has been cited over 500 times. Corey also has a Graduate Certificate in Data Analytics and formal training in conducting focus groups.
Corinne Howell
Acute Program Manager, St Vincent’s Virtual & Home; Australia
Corinne is a modern nurse and trailblazing leader, holding a Bachelor of Nursing Science, Post-Grad Certificate in Clinical Nursing and Certificate in Frontline Management. Through an extensive career across local and international health services, Corinne has led teams through change in subacute, residential aged care and acute at home services – with a special focus on cultural shift and performance excellence. Her current role as SVHM’s Hospital in the Home Nurse Unit Manager has seen her lead a phase of significant transformation and growth, from a 15 bed nursing-led service to a 45+ bed multi-disciplinary and higher acuity unit. Corinne sits on multiple professional and clinical committees, playing an integral role in the development of St Vincent’s Health Australia’s Professional Nurse Framework in 2021 and founding SVHM’s Leading with Mentors programme in 2018. Corinne brings an energetic and embracing approach to innovation, growth and reform of care beyond the hospital walls
David Brouhard
Sound Anesthesia; USA
David Brouhard, MD, FASA is a board-certified anesthesiologist and serves as the Medical Director for the Perioperative Surgical Home (PSH) at Kettering Health. He completed his residency in anesthesiology at Johns Hopkins Hospital. He has a strong interest in regional anesthesia and enhanced recovery programs using non-narcotic-based techniques. After relocating to Kettering Health, Dr. Brouhard was able to engage administration, clinicians, and staff to begin the journey of developing a successful PSH across 7 hospitals, using the synergies of a team-based approach. Most recently Dr. Brouhard has been involved with the ASA in developing a patient navigation tool to help guide patients through their surgical journey as well as in the development of an PSH Implementation Guide to for clinicians who want to establish a PSH at their institutions.
David Pearson
CEO, Australian Alliance to End Homelessness; Australia
David recognises that ending homelessness is possible and that homelessness is not normal or something we should accept. He has worked towards this goal in a range of roles in the community, government, university and philanthropic sectors, including currently as the CEO of the Australian Alliance to End Homelessness. Before this he helped lead the establishment of the Adelaide Zero Project, a collective impact initiative of over 45 organisations all working together to end street homelessness in Adelaide’s inner city. David was a 2020 Kenneth Myer Innovation Fellow, a 2021 Churchill and is a Senior Advisor for the Institute of Global Homelessness (IGH). In 2019 David was recognised as one of the top 40 Under 40 leaders in South Australia. Prior to this David was the Senior Policy Adviser to several South Australian Premiers and Commonwealth Government Ministers in a range of portfolio areas.
Deirdre Fetherstonhaugh
Australian Centre for Evidence Based Aged Care, La Trobe University; Australia
Deirdre Fetherstonhaugh is a Professor and Director of the Australian Centre for Evidence Based Aged Care (ACEBAC), La Trobe University, Australia. Her research focuses on translation of research evidence into practice, ethical implications of clinical practice, decision-making for people with dementia, sexuality and dementia, and clinical risk in aged care.
Deon York
Director of Consumer Engagement, Te Tāhū Hauora Health Quality & Safety Commission; New Zealand
Deon York is Director of Consumer Engagement at Te Tāhū Hauora Health Quality & Safety Commission New Zealand, responsible for all aspects of internal and external consumer engagement strategies and activities. His prior experience spans the public, private and community sectors. He is involved nationally and internationally with the haemophilia community, having worked for more than 25 years to improve care. He completed his undergraduate studies at Victoria University of Wellington, and master’s degree in medical anthropology at the University of Auckland alongside postgraduate studies in public health. Deon is driven by contributing to a health care system that is determined and shaped by what matters to the people it serves. This theme has been a constant in his career to date in the health sector.
Emit Taylor
Community Engagement Manager, Cohealth; Australia
Emit Taylor (they/them pronouns). Emit Taylor specialises in community-led development and centring client voice in program design and delivery. They have worked across a range of sectors in health, education and housing both in Australia and internationally. Emit led the development of one of cohealth’s largest community engagement strategies, the $36million High Risk Accommodation Response program during the COVID-19 outbreak. The initiatives taken in this program have greatly influenced Victorian Government policies and funding in community health. Emit continues to play a key role in advocating for best practice in community engagement and creating opportunities for lived experience workforces across cohealth and government.
Felicity Gallimore
Medical Clinical Lead, Clinical Excellence Commission (CEC); Australia
Dr Felicity Gallimore is an Obstetrician and Gynaecologist who gained her medical degree from the University of Cambridge, UK prior to moving to Sydney where she underwent her specialist Obstetrics and Gynaecology training. After 20+ years in Obstetric practice, Felicity has become involved in the world of clinical data utilisation initially through the University of Sydney and then with the Clinical Excellence Commission (CEC) as Medical Clinical Co-Lead for the Maternity Intelligence System (QIDS MatIQ). She is a founder member of the team that conceived, developed and is implementing the CEC’s QIDS MatIQ system which is bringing near real-time maternity and neonatal outcome data from NSW’s public maternity hospitals directly back to the clinicians. Already, information from nearly 150,000 births across NSW can be accessed using QIDS MatIQ and insights from this data (collected as recently as last week) can be utilised.
Fiona Herco
Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI); Australia
Fiona holds over 20 years experience as a health service manager. She has led organisation-wide initiatives and programs including Improvement and Redesign, Business Planning and Culture Transformation. Fiona held a variety of roles at the Royal Melbourne Hospital and North Western Mental Health, one of Australia’s major tertiary health services. In her role as Chief of Staff, Office of the Chief Executive, she held oversight and progression of key strategic healthcare partnerships with a wide array of organisations including private, public, not-for-profit and community services. As a Principal Advisor within the Department of Premier and Cabinet, Fiona supported the development of a 20-year strategy for the Melbourne Biomedical Precinct. Her areas of passion are cantered around social justice, particularly in the area of homelessness.
Georgina Hodgson
Simulation Co-ordinator, Department of Education and Learning, St. Vincent’s Hospital; England
Speaker bio coming soon.
Göran Henriks
Senior Strategic Advisor, Region Jönköping County; Sweden
Göran Henriks is Senior Strategic Advisor, Region Jönköping County, Sweden www.rjl.se Mr Henriks academic background is in Psychology from the University of Lund, and he has worked as a child, school and sporting (national level basketball) psychologist. Mr. Henriks has been Chief Executive of Learning and Innovation in Region Jönköping for 27 years and more than forty years’ experience of management in the Swedish healthcare system. He is also a Senior Fellow at the Institute of Health Care Improvement (IHI) and the chair emeritus of the Strategic Committee of the International Quality Forum organised by the British Medical Journal (BMJ) and the IHI. Göran is a board member of the Swedish Institute for Quality, SIQ. http://www.siq.se/Home.htm, chairman of the South East Health Care regions Quality registers centre http://rcso.se/ and a professor in Quality Management at University of Yerevan, Armenia. Göran Henriks is appointed as key note speaker and teacher at many national and international conferences, such as the International Forum of Quality and Safety, APAC and the international ISQUA conference. He has written articles about balanced scorecard, learning, access and spread, and improvement of quality in cancer care.
Hitoshi Tabuchi
Professor, Hiroshima University; Japan
I obtained a doctoral degree and a doctorate in medicine from Osaka City University School of Medicine, and earned EMBA from Nagoya University of Commerce. The award is given twice, the Osaka Mayor Award and the Nagoya University of Commerce Excellent Student Award. The maintenance and development of the universal health insurance system in Japan is my lifework. This is because the biggest advantage of Japanese medical care is that you can get medical care regardless of the difference between rich and poor. The ophthalmic center I founded is now the largest in Japan. Concerning the visual information processing of the brain, which I studied in graduate school, I have continued application research of machine learning for more than 10 years, and at the same time I focused on social implementation of artificial intelligence with dramatic progress by Deep Learning.
James Morrow
Patient Representative, St Vincent's Hospital Melbourne; Australia
Speaker bio coming soon.
Jason Wallis
Physiotherapist and Research Fellow, Monash University; Australia
Jason Wallis – I am an early career researcher and expert physiotherapy clinician in the management of musculoskeletal conditions such as knee osteoarthritis and low back pain. My research is focussed on improving health outcomes by implementing high value care, including development and evaluation of new models of healthcare delivery.
Jenny Barr
Community Engagement Manager, Royal Melbourne Hospital; Australia
Jenny Barr is RMH Community Engagement Manager and co-leader of the CAC evaluation team. She is also a nurse and researcher, currently undertaking a PhD at Deakin University and University of Copenhagen to codesign an intervention for patient empowerment in decision making in multimorbidity. Jenny’s work has a focus of building a greater capacity for partnership in health care to achieve person-centred care.
Jessica (Ika) Trijsburg
Victorian Refugee Health Network, Monash University & The University of Melbourne; Australia
Ika is a recognised leader in strategic diversity and inclusion planning, having applied this to leadership roles in local government, community services, and independent education. She is committed to broadening understanding of inclusion and diversity, and connecting industry leading innovators across sectors. Her current PhD research examines the role of diversity Inclusion in decision making for better collective decisions.
Jill Waters
System Director of Process Excellence, Kettering Health Network; USA
Jill Waters, MBA, PhD is the Director of Process Excellence for Kettering Health. In 15 years of experience in areas of lean six sigma and innovation; Jill has worked with leadership to define projects, charters, and metrics; and worked across hospitals and clinics with nurses, physicians, and support staff to obtain authentic engagement in continuous improvement to produce positive outcomes.
Jillann Farmer
Royal Australasian College of Medical Administrators; Australia
Dr Jillann Farmer was Medical Director of the United Nations, based at the headquarters in New York for 8 years. During tenure at the UN, she was responsible for the health, safety and wellbeing of all UN personnel deployed throughout the world and was also responsible for the standards in healthcare facilities operating under the UN flag. She managed the UN’s response to the New York wave of COVID-19 in 2020. Since leaving the UN, she has worked as a Deputy Director General in Queensland Health and as a front-line clinician in primary care and emergency medicine. Prior to serving in the UN, she was the Medical Director of the Patient Safety Centre in Queensland Health, and the inaugural Director of the Clinician Performance Support Service. Jillann is currently the national lead for a project to shift the culture of medical practice to one of respect, inclusion and equity. Outside of work, Jillann has been a martial arts practitioner for over 30 years, and is a keen hiker, kayaker, cyclist and cross-country skier.
Jo-Anne Rayner
Senior Research Fellow, Australian Centre for Evidence Based Aged Care, La Trobe University; Australia
Dr Jo-Anne Rayner is a senior research fellow at the Australian Centre for Evidence Based Aged Care, La Trobe University. Her research focuses are: the translation of research evidence into practice; the care of older people in residential aged care, especially those with dementia; and the aged care workforce, especially the education of nurses with gerontological knowledge. Jo has extensive expertise and experience as a qualitative methods researcher and mentors junior researchers both in the higher education sector and the Department of Health. She works as part of a team that also develops online and face-to-face education for health professionals and aged care workers. She has presented at Senate (National Government) inquiries into the aged care workforce and her publications have been tabled at the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety by the Victorian Government.
Jon Scott
Healthcare consultant, Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI); United Kingdom
Jon is an international professional executive and healthcare operational consultant with a vast experience in successfully leading multi professional teams within health and social care systems that face quality, operational, budgetary and clinical challenges. He has worked within healthcare systems for 28 years and undertaken 20 Board level operational roles within organisations of all sizes and complexities. Jon has a reputation for dramatic operational improvement and has been called upon by health regulators to support organisations that have operational challenges affecting patient care and performance metrics. He has delivered significant improvements which have won several national awards and has twice been recognised by the UK Secretary of State for Health and Social Care. Jon is currently IHI expert faculty for the Timely Emergency Care Collaborative in Victoria.
Karen Bartholomew
Director of Health Equity, Waitemata District, Service Improvement & Innovation; New Zealand
Dr Karen Bartholomew is a Public Health Physician and researcher, and is the Director of Health Equity in Service Innovation and Improvement, Te Whatu Ora (Health New Zealand). Her research focuses on screening, health inequities and implementation science. Karen leads a HPV self-testing programme, Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm (AAA) research, an Endometrial Cancer programme and is a co-investigator for the Māori-led Lung Cancer Screening programme Te Oranga Pūkahukahu. Karen has a Microbiology degree, is a medical doctor and has a Masters of Public Health. She is a current member of the NZ National Screening Advisory Committee.
Karen Luxford
CEO, Australian Council on Healthcare Standards (ACHS); Australia
Dr Karen Luxford is the Group CEO, Australian Council on Healthcare Standards (ACHS) & ACHS International. Dr Luxford has extensive experience in governance, strategic planning, safety and quality, healthcare standards, engaging with a wide range of stakeholders and leading organizational change. Dr Luxford is a senior executive in health with over 30 years’ experience in a range of leadership roles in the public, not for profit and private sectors including CEO, Royal Australasian College of Dental Surgeons, A/g CEO and Executive Director, Clinical Excellence Commission NSW and GM of the National Breast and Ovarian Cancer Centre in Australia. Dr Luxford is a Board member & President-Elect of ASQua, Council member of Standards Australia, the ISQua EEA Accreditation Council, Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD), Certified Health Executive (CHE) and Fellow of the Australasian College of Health Service Management (ACHSM) and the Australian Institute of Managers & Leaders (IML). Dr Luxford is an alumni Harkness Fellow in Healthcare Policy & Practice, Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA and is passionate about health care.
Karol Petrovska
Director, Virtual Care, System Performance Support Branch, NSW Ministry of Health; Australia
Karol Petrovska is the Director for Virtual Care at the Ministry. She is leading a new team to drive a more coordinated approach to embedding virtual care across the NSW health system. Over the past 18 months Karol has led the development of the Virtual Care Strategy and Implementation Plan and has also led the establishment of the Virtual Care Taskforce, of which she is Chair. Karol has a clinical background in Occupational Therapy and in recent years completed a doctorate in Public Health. She has spent most of the last 20 years in the Ministry, with brief stints at other government agencies including the Department of Premier and Cabinet and the Department of Communities and Justice.
Kate Bones
Director, Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI); New Zealand
Kate Bones, MSW is Project Director within the Asia-Pacific region of Institute for Healthcare Improvement. In her role, Kate provides support across multiple improvement initiatives within the region to ensure robust application of improvement science that will lead to results. She first joined the IHI in 2000, during which time she was involved in a number of Collaborative programs including the national Health Disparities Collaboratives and a state-wide Collaborative to reduce hospital readmissions. Kate was staff to IHI’s Scientific Advisory Group, helping to launch this advisory function in 2009. In 2013, Kate left the IHI to gain experience applying improvement methods in the sector and has since done so within primary care, hospital-based settings, and mental health services. It was during this period that Kate moved with her family to Aotearoa New Zealand. She has served as teaching faculty with programs offered by Ko Awatea and the Health Quality and Safety Commission within New Zealand and, in 2021, Kate returned to IHI as a member of the Asia-Pacific team. Kate is a social worker by training and spent her early years working with consumers of mental health services.
Kate Charlesworth
Senior Advisor, Climate Risk & Net Zero Unit, NSW Ministry of Health; Australia
Dr Kate Charlesworth is a public health physician in Sydney and leads the Climate Risk & Net Zero Unit at NSW Health. Kate initially worked as a hospital doctor in Perth and Sydney, before undertaking much of her public health medicine training in the UK. In England, she worked in the world-leading Greener NHS program, the leading healthcare decarbonisation program in the world. Kate has worked in sustainability roles across NSW Health since 2018 and also has a PhD in low-carbon healthcare
Katerina Yakimov
Safer Care Victoria (SCV); Australia
I come from a non-English speaking background, of Russian descent, but I was born in China and came to Australia as a refugee. I have worked in health services, in community health, and a women’s hospital, in consumer engagement roles. I have an interest in advocating for the needs and equitable access of culturally and linguistically diverse communities, and have applied these learnings, to professional roles in Emergency Services, and all three levels of Government in Australia. I have been part of the initial team and stakeholders to develop the Victorian framework for the implementation of the 4Ms.
Katherine Dalton
Senior Occupational Therapist, Queensland Children's Hospital; Australia
Kath Dalton is an Occupational Therapist and an accredited hand therapist who has worked across Australian tertiary paediatric hospitals, delivered education with colleagues nationally and internationally, and contributed to raising the profile of paediatric hand therapy through numerous state, national and international committees. She has co-chaired worldwide hand therapy pre-courses, and scientific committees within international combined hand surgery and therapy conferences. She has completed education and service improvement project roles previously and has a Master of Health Service management. Kath strives to support and empower children and their families as the forefront of providing integrated health care services. Implementing the intersection of frontline clinical service delivery with research in health system design, consumer engagement and value-based health care is a recent interest of hers to translate and test within complex public health environments.
Katherine Watson
Senior Emergency Registrar, Simulation Educator, St. Vincent’s Hospital; England
Speaker bio coming soon.
Kathy Eljiz
Senior Lecturer, University of New South Wales; Australia
Dr Kathy Eljiz: I am a Senior Lecturer with the School of Population Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of New South Wales. Over 18 years, my teaching expertise and research interests have been in the field of health system improvement. Specifically, my skills and experience are in knowledge translation, organisational development, change and culture. My main interest is working to close the theory-practice gap and improve the organisation and management of healthcare systems. The translational research approach I have focuses on working to achieve academic rigour and industry outcomes, leading to improvement strategies and recommendations. I have overseen over 340 Masters translational research projects, and directly supervised 160 projects across a range of categories, including change management, organisational behaviour, operations management, health system improvement, and leadership. I contribute to the wider academic community by peer reviewing national and international journals in business and health fields and am an Associate Editor for BMJ Open Quality (2019-present).
Katrina Lewis
Director Patient Experience Consumer Engagement, Alfred Health; Australia
Katrina Lewis, Director Patient Experience Consumer Engagement Alfred Health. I am currently in the position of Director Patient Experience Consumer Engagement. My healthcare work experience has had a focus on both operational and professional roles including the development and implementation of systems and processes aimed at improving patient and staff experience, service delivery, and broader organisational imperatives. My interest and area of work focuses on strategy development, continuous improvement and using methodologies such as co-design to foster consumer and community engagement. I am also passionate about building leadership and facilitation capability to create environments that foster creativity and innovation and deliver high quality compassionate care.
Kristy Sealby
Quality and Risk Manager, QEC; Australia
Kristy Sealby is the Quality and Risk Manager at QEC, a registered public hospital and Victoria’s largest Early Parenting Centre. She commenced work as Quality and Risk Manager in the community health sector, where she worked for 12 years before moving to QEC five years ago. Kristy worked for many years as an assessor, working on accreditation teams and assessing various health services. Her formal education includes an advanced diploma in Governance, Risk and Compliance as well as post graduate studies in health service management (safety and quality), completed in 2022. Kristy developed and implemented the Consumer Engagement Framework at QEC from 2018. One favourite part of her current role is listening to and learning from consumer representatives who continue to amaze and inspire her with their insights. In her life outside of work, Kristy is a volunteer pastoral care worker and enjoys swimming in Port Phillip Bay.
Laila Hallam
Health Consumer Leader, NSW; Australia
Laila became an accidental advocate for her father during his decade-long battle with severe illness and witnessing the impact of the health system response. Tortured with a rapidly failing body, and losing his ability to speak, Laila took on her father’s voice as illness took his. In the 10 years since, her goal has been to enhance healthcare service delivery by integrating lived experience knowledge and expertise. She actively writes, presents, and collaborates with health systems, clinicians and service users to facilitate and empower patient and family partnerships across healthcare services and settings. Laila serves as a Board Member of the Clinical Excellence Commission, Chairs multiple consumer groups, works as a Consumer Advisor to Sydney Local Health District, and is an Honorary Associate with Menzies Centre for Health Policy and Economics, School of Public Health at The University of Sydney
Lars Bredevang Andersen
Medical Director, Region Zealand Prehospital Centre; Denmark
Prehospital leader and medical director. Anaesthesiologist and master of disaster medicine.
Laura Mahoney
Executive Director, Homelessness Solutions and Impact, Launch Housing; Australia
Laura Mahoney is Launch Housing’s Executive Director, Homelessness Solutions and Impact, and an experienced leader in strategic planning and business transformation, policy reform and implementation, and the delivery of sophisticated program evaluations and organisation reviews, for both for-purpose and Government organisations.
Lauren Arthurson
Stroke Coordinator, Echuca Regional Health; Australia
Lauren Arthurson is the Stroke Coordinator at Echuca Regional Health. Lauren was raised and educated in a small rural community before attending university in Melbourne. She is a qualified Speech Pathologist and holds a Master of Health Service Management. Lauren moved to Echuca with her young family in 2012 after working in large tertiary hospitals in Melbourne and London. She is acutely aware of the differences in urban and regional health care access. Her lived experience of disparity provides motivation to improve stroke care through team development and improved access to specialist care utilising telehealth.
Leanne Wells
Former CEO, Consumers Health Forum of Australia; Australia
Leanne is a health advocate and senior executive with over thirty years’ experience across health and social policy, program, and service development. She is a respected reformer and change agent and has a reputation as an energetic and driven leader and is the former longstanding CEO of the Consumers Health Forum of Australia, the nation’s pre-eminent peak body for health consumers. Leanne has been a member of various advisory groups including the Strengthening Medicare Taskforce, Primary Health Care 10 Year Plan, 10 Year Preventive Health Strategy, Leadership Group for the Australian Ethical Healthcare Alliance and, Patient Advisory Panel for the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality. She has extensive governance experience serving as a Non-Executive Director on boards in the for-purpose and health sectors. She has held several Ministerial and government advisory appointments to high-level committees and taskforces. Leanne has tertiary qualifications in communications and business.
Liesl Nicol
Patient representative, Monash University; Australia
Liesl Nicol has first-hand experience of receiving intravenous anti-cancer therapy in the hospital outpatient setting. Liesl is the first author of the Cochrane systematic review investigating the delivery of intravenous anti-cancer therapy at home versus in hospital and she will integrate her experience as a previous cancer patient into the interpretation of the review findings.
Linda McAuliffe
Australian Centre for Evidence Based Aged Care, La Trobe University; Australia
Speaker bio coming soon.
Lisa McKenzie
Vice President, Asia Pacific, Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI); USA
Lisa McKenzie, BPhysio(Hons), MHA, GAICD, has more than 20 years experience across health, aged care, disability, and community sectors. This includes leading large-scale strategies to transform the delivery of health care and sustain impactful improvements across multiple organisations, communities and countries. Currently Lisa is a Vice President at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) where she leads a team across the Asia Pacific to support regional partners improve the design of health systems and achieve better outcomes for the populations they serve. She is also a Board Director at a community health organisation (cohealth), a retirement community and aged care home services provider (Parkglen), and is an Independent Advisor for Service Delivery and Quality at a disability services provider (Yooralla). Lisa has a Masters of Health Administration, a clinical background in physiotherapy and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Lisa Mulvogue
Quality and Risk Manager, QEC; Australia
Lisa Mulvogue is an experienced project coordinator with over a decade’s worth of experience working for some of Australia’s largest retail companies. When between projects, Lisa returns to her other working passion; aged care, as a qualified personal care assistant skilled in palliative and memory support care. Lisa is mother to two children and was a consumer of QEC services in 2019 and then again in 2020. Lisa volunteers as a member of the Family Advisory Committee and Clinical Governance Committee at QEC bringing lived experience into the design and delivery of service improvement. Lisa is also a member of QEC’s Client Online Panel, which is a closed Facebook group used for consumer engagement. She recently completed a consumer group advisory mentorship program facilitated by the Health Issues Centre. Outside of work and volunteering, Lisa enjoys do-it-yourself projects and exploring the beaches, parks and bushland of the Mornington Peninsula where she lives with her family.
Lloyd Provost
Statistician and Senior Improvement Advisor, Associates in Process Improvement, Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI); USA
Lloyd P. Provost, Statistician and Senior Improvement Advisor at Associates in Process Improvement, helps individuals and organizations learn the science of improvement in order to improve their processes and systems. Mr. Provost’s experience is in applications of statistical process control and in designing research and quality improvement studies. Lloyd is an IHI Senior Fellow, serves on the IHI faculty for the Improvement Advisor Development Program, provides improvement advisor support for IHI’s developing countries programs, and provides support for the QI curriculum for the IHI Open School. Mr. Provost co-authored the books Quality Improvement Through Planned Experimentation, The Improvement Guide, and The Health Care Data Guide.
Louise Cuskelly
Executive Director International and Consulting, ACHS International
Louise Cuskelly is the Executive Director of Australian Council on Healthcare Standards (ACHS) International and Consulting, a renowned organisation in the field of healthcare quality and safety. Ms Cuskelly has extensive experience in clinical risk management, healthcare quality improvement, governance, strategic planning, safety and quality, professional accountability, and culture change. As a clinician and experienced senior executive in the health sector, Ms Cuskelly has dedicated over 25 years of her career to various leadership roles in the public, not-for-profit, and private health sectors, both domestically and internationally. Her diverse background has provided her with a comprehensive understanding of healthcare systems and their challenges. She leads an international team which delivers quality improvement programs, accreditation services, education initiatives, and consulting services across the Middle East and Asia Pacific regions. Ms. Cuskelly works closely with organisations to drive high performance by facilitating measurable improvements in quality patient outcomes, fostering professional accountability, and cultivating a culture of safety. She is a passionate advocate for patient safety, sharing valuable lessons learned from her extensive experience in healthcare quality and safety. With a strong commitment to supporting organisations worldwide to deliver safer, kinder, and more reliable healthcare.
Lucy Mayes
Engagement Manager, Hush Foundation and the Gathering of Kindness; Australia
Speaker bio coming soon.
Malik Abdurahman
Cohealth; Australia
Abdulmalik (Malik) is part of the Fitzroy/Collingwood Community Connector team. Malik works as a Community Connector, a specified lived experienced role for residents living in public housing communities. Malik has over 6 years of experience in project and community management. He is the founder and President of Fitzroy Lions Soccer Club, a community focused soccer club that prides itself on inclusivity. Malik is a community builder. He has addressed significant obstacles faced by families and young people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds accessing mainstream sports and employment, and is now focusing on healthcare. His vision is to create pathways for young people to pursue their dreams of becoming a professional athlete through his club. Malik holds a Bachelor of Accounting & Finance and was recognised as the City of Yarra’s Young Citizen of the Year in 2018.
Margaret Burdeu
Royal Melbourne Hospital; Australia
Margaret Burdeu is the Deputy Chair (consumer elected) of the RMH CAC and a leading member of the evaluation team. She has passion for equity, inclusion and diversity and driving a joined up health ecosystem innovations that better address the needs of disadvantaged communities. Her role on the CAC is informed by her work and civic life that spanned cutting edge social, educational and health policy and consumer advocacy, including with disadvantaged culturally and linguistically diverse communities Margaret has a long history as an active consumer adviser and advocate and has a Masters of Business and Government. She is currently the Deputy Chancellor of La Trobe University Council and a consumer member of the Victorian Board of the Midwifery and Nursing Board of Australia.
Maria Bradshaw
Every Week Counts National Preterm Birth Prevention Collaborative; Australia
Speaker bio coming soon.
Masahiro Akada
Tsukazaki Hospital / Kyoto University; Japan
Masahiro Akada is a University of Tokyo Medical School graduate. He started his career as a clinical ophthalmologist at Tsukazaki Hospital and is enrolled in the Kyoto University Medical School graduate program.
Matthew Scott
Peer Support Worker, St Vincent's Hospital Melbourne; Australia
Matthew Scott is employed as a Peer Support Worker (PSW) with the Healthcare for the Homeless Department at St Vincent’s Hospital. As the inaugural PSW within the Department, he has contributed significantly to the development of the role across programs that work specifically with people experiencing homelessness. Matthew has a significant amount of experience representing people with lived experience of homelessness and is a member of multiple hospital committees and research teams. He is a strong advocate for the rights and wellbeing of those who are receiving care at our hospital who feel marginalised and he contributes significantly to improving their hospital experience.
Max Niggl
Patient representative, Alfred Health’s Consumer Advisory Committee and the HIV Services Advisory Group, Australia
Max was Living Positive Victoria’s Positive Speakers Bureau Coordinator from 1999 until December 2019. His focus was the lived narratives of people living with HIV and educating the broader community. A crucial part of the Bureau is peer-based support and advocacy. Max has presented at International AIDS Conferences in Vienna and Melbourne, National LGBTI Ageing and Aged Care Conferences, ASHM, ICAAP and HIV Educators Conferences on the role of PLHIV Speakers utilising personal narratives to challenge stigma and discrimination. He has presented Conference abstract papers on HPV Anal Cancer at the AFAO/NAPWHA HIV Educators Conference and Alfred Health Symposiums. Post retirement Max is a consumer representative on Alfred Health’s Consumer Advisory Committee and the HIV Services Advisory Group. Past roles were as a consumer member on Alfred Health’s Patient Comes First Committee and member on the Burnet’s Ageing Well with HIV website Committee
Mike Roberts
Chief Executive Officer, Safer Care Victoria (SCV); Australia
As the agency’s second appointed CEO, Professor Michael Roberts is responsible for the strategic leadership of SCV and its day-to-day management. He reports directly to the Department Secretary. With more than 30 years’ experience as a senior executive leader, respiratory physician and senior professor, Mike is a welcome addition to not only Safer Care Victoria, but the broader Victorian health system, helping deliver better health outcomes for all Victorians. Before joining SCV, Mike was the Managing Director of UCLPartners Academic Health Science System in the UK, and has held senior appointments at the Royal College of Physicians, the National Institute for Health Research and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry at Queen Mary University of London. He has a strong focus on clinician and consumer participation, and is well-versed in running clinical audits and service design to improve patient-centred care across primary, community and secondary settings.
Paige McCullough
Critical Care Registered Nurse, Simulation Educator, St. Vincent’s Hospital; England
Speaker bio coming soon.
Paresh Dawda
Principal Consultant, Prestantia Health; Australia
Paresh is a practicing GP and Business Owner with a breadth and depth of experience across clinical service delivery systems in Australia and UK with extensive knowledge of systems in US and New Zealand. He combines active clinical practice with leadership, academic and consulting roles to bring a unique blend of skills that create synergies and alignment across the micro, meso and macro elements of the health system and across other sectors. Paresh is author of key papers relevant to high performance primary care including a King’s Fund Paper and co-edited the MJA supplement on achieving person centred primary health care through value co‐creation and authored a paper on alternative funding models for primary health care. He is editor in chief of the BMJ International Journal on Healthcare Integration. He has a strong reputation and high credibility and has designed and delivered large scale capacity and capability leadership, quality and patient safety improvement programs in the UK and Australia. As Director and Principal of Prestantia Health he offers healthcare consultancy services. He is the clinical lead on the current WNSW PHN capability building program and a range of other PHN and PHC programs. As Director and Principal of Next Practice Deakin, he provides leadership on implementation of the principles of value-based healthcare and innovation. He is a GP Consultant Adviser to NSW Agency for Clinical Innovation and eHealth. The golden threat that unites his diverse interests are a passion for human-centred health care.
Patti Shih
Research Fellow, University of Wollongong, Australia
Dr Patti Shih is a Lecturer in Public Health and a Research Fellow at the Australian Centre for Health Engagement, Evidence and Values (ACHEEV) at the University of Wollongong. She is a sociologist specialising in political, social and cultural aspects of health care and health service. She specialises in qualitative and deliberative research methods. Her current research focuses on consumer orientated health technologies, and consumer participation in healthcare decision making. She co-led and co-researched in this collaborative study with health consumer representatives.
Rochelle Patten
Elder, cultural leader and artist
Aunty Rochelle Patten is a highly respected elder, cultural leader and artist. Patten has a Masters of Applied Science at Deakin University—which she achieved at fifty years of age—focused on the health of the Dungahla (Murray) River and Murray Darling Basin areas where she has lived and continues to care for. She has worked for the Native Title Legal Service and the Cummeragunja Aboriginal Medical Service as the chairperson for sixteen years. Aunty Rochelle also sits on the Aboriginal Health and Medical Research Council as a director for her region. She has been creating art for many years and recently had a joint exhibition at Bunjilaka Aboriginal Cultural Centre titled Two Strong Sisters. Patten has been on the Yulendj knowledge group for Museums Victoria since 2012 and was an integral contributor to the First Peoples exhibition at Melbourne Museum. She is a respected member of her community and currently lives in the Barmah Forest connecting and caring to her country and animal friends. You are invited to join Aunty Rochelle and her friends from the Hush Foundation to contribute to a collaborative artwork which was commenced at the 2023 Gathering of Kindness, and which will travel to hospitals spreading the message of kindness in healthcare for all, and the power of the arts to support wellbeing, culture change and the human experience.
Roslyn Morgan
Environmental Health Officer, ANMF Victoria; Australia
Ros Morgan is a practicing Intensive Care Nurse who was involved in bringing in a number of sustainability initiatives into her own department and the progressing many of them to others. After joining the network green network, Ros eventually took on the role of Sustainability Officer for the network. For the last 5 years Ros has worked as the Environmental Health Officer with ANMF (Vic Branch) whilst keeping up her clinical practice in a part time capacity. Through these opportunities Ros is well exposed to both grassroots and governance challenges and opportunities.
Shane Robertson
Director, Department for Health, Victoria; Australia
Shane is a Director of the Timely Emergency Care Collaborative and Emergency Care and Access at the Victorian Department of Health. Shane has worked across numerous Victorian government portfolios, contributing to system-wide reforms as part of the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System, providing senior advisory services to departmental executives and supporting the reforms to Victoria’s emergency management sector following the 2009 Victorian Bushfires. OFFICIAL Across these and other roles, Shane has held operational, program management and policy leadership functions. His is a qualified lawyer and is currently completing an Executive Masters of Public Administration through the Australian and New Zealand School of Government and University of Melbourne.
Shannon Nott
NSW Health; Australia
Dr Shannon Nott is the Rural Director of Medical Services for Western NSW Local Health District in NSW Health. He oversees 35 rural and remote hospitals and multipurpose services across western NSW. Shannon also works for the Royal Flying Doctors Service (South Eastern Section) as a retrieval and primary care Rural Generalist. He is also a GP Anaesthetist at Dubbo Base Hospital. Through his work with Western NSW LHD, Shannon led the implementation of the region’s vCare critical care hub, a 24/7 virtual support and logistics centre designed to assist rural and remote communities. Shannon has also led the creation of Australia’s first Virtual Rural Generalist Service as well as the development of a Virtual Clinical Pharmacy Service for rural communities. Shannon is a member of the World Health Organization’s Roster of Digital Health Experts, sits on Rural Council of the World Congress of Family Physicians and was previously the NSW Rural Representative to the Federal AMA.
Shelley Thomson
Director, Experience 360, Australia
Shelley Thomson is a patient experience advisor, author of ‘Patients For Life’, and accomplished keynote speaker. Her healthcare career spans more than 30 years, across clinical, operational, and commercial sectors, and she is passionate about evolving care delivery models and shifting success metrics from outputs to outcomes. Through her company, Experience 360, Shelley work alongside clinical, executive and operational health leaders, inspiring their health teams to partner with patients to co-design services and deliver outcomes that matter most to all. Shelley is a faculty member of the Australian Council on Healthcare Standards, Improvement Academy, and an Independent Director on the Australian Podiatry Association Board.
Simone Heald
Chief Executive Officer, Sunraysia Community Health Service (SCHS); Australia
Simone Heald is a highly experienced healthcare professional and CEO of Sunraysia Community Health Services, an organisation that provides a range of community health programs and services to people in the Sunraysia region of Victoria, Australia. With over 25 years of experience in the healthcare sector, Simone has dedicated her career to improving health outcomes and reducing health disparities in underserved communities. Prior to joining Sunraysia Community Health Services, Simone held several senior positions in both the private and public healthcare sectors. She has extensive expertise in health service planning and delivery, quality improvement, stakeholder engagement, and strategic planning. Simone is a strong advocate for community-based healthcare and has played an instrumental role in the implementation of innovative healthcare programs in the Sunraysia region, including the use of community paramedicine to improve healthcare access and health equity in rural areas. With her wealth of knowledge and experience, Simone is a respected leader in the healthcare industry and a passionate advocate for improving health outcomes for all members of the community.
Sophy Athan
Director, Euroforce Music, Australia
Sophy Athan has a strong interest and varied experience in advocating in the health sector. She is passionate about improving the patient experience and patient health outcomes. Ms Athan is a Director of her own company, she was previously a senior public servant in both state and local governments.
Stephanie Easthope
Project Director, Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI); New Zealand
Stephanie is a Project Director for IHI and is currently working with the Victorian Department of Health on the Timely Emergency Care Collaborative. Stephanie has worked in service design and improvement for more than 20 years, and through this time has completed a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt, the IHI Improvement Advisor Program, IHI Innovation College, and Lean Coach (Cardiff University) qualifications. She has worked across the NZ health sector as a Principal consultant, as a Design Lead at the New Zealand (NZ) Accident Compensation Corporation, and as a improvement manager and faculty at Ko Awatea, a healthcare innovation and improvement centre in Auckland. She has supported seven District Health Boards in NZ to improve patient flow and has delivered improvement science training and coaching for leaders and teams across the health sector.
Steve Bowden
Associate Director for Patient Safety, Clinical Excellence Commission (CEC); Australia
Steve is the Associate Director for Patient Safety at the Clinical Excellence Commission (CEC). In this role he coordinates the patient safety team to review and respond to patient safety incidents within NSW. Using a data-focussed approach Steve works with clinicians, managers and staff to access, interpret and apply patient safety data across the continuum of care to improve patient outcomes and clinical governance processes. Steve is an experienced health professional with nearly 20 years of working within NSW Health. Steve began his career as a clinical dietitian and worked across a range of clinical areas including critical care, surgery and sub-acute care. He has worked in high level leadership and management roles for over a decade including Head of Discipline for Nutrition and Dietetics (ISLHD), Allied Health Data Manager (SESIAHS), Clinical Efficiency and Evaluation Manager (SESLHD), Manager of Healthcare Improvement Analytics (SESLHD) and Clinical Lead for Safety Intelligence at the CEC.
Sue Velovski
Specialist General Surgeon, Northern Rivers Surgical Group; Australia
Dr Sue Velovski is a Specialist General Surgeon working in the Northern Rivers of NSW. Her specialities include cancer and trauma surgery Sue understands the inequities in health care amongst rural Australia and continues to advocate for ‘safe appropriate surgery locally and globally’ Sue has been active in teaching the importance of both technical and non-technical skills to young surgeons. She has had the privilege of training with Human Factors specialists. Sue was elected to the Human Factors Advisory group by CEC/ NSW Health in 2018. Prior and during the pandemic, Sue was asked to engage with the Macedonian Community via SBS Radio and local radio to provide timely advice about physical and mental wellbeing. Sue is a strong advocate for all rural health services, and a passionate and dedicated supporter of rural medical trainees. She has been involved, both nationally and internationally, in the education of rural trainees in the technical and non-technical skills required to have a safe enjoyable and healthy life as doctor and community member. Sue is a Board member of the Rural Doctors Association of New South Wales (RDANSW), is member of Natural Disaster Emergency Response Group and was awarded co-Rural Doctor of the Year for 2022-2023
Susan Mckee
CEO, Dental Health Services Victoria, Australia
Susan is a forward-thinking CEO and non-executive director on a mission to make quality healthcare more accessible, safe and patient-centred. Since starting her career as a Registered Nurse, Susan has spent 39 years improving healthcare systems across the public, not-for-profit and private sectors as a nursing director and senior executive. Susan has a Bachelor of Applied Science in Human Movement Studies an MBA and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Susan’s strategic and values-driven approach inspires creative thinking, bold innovation and a collaborative workplace culture. Never one to pull the ladder up behind her, Susan mentors aspiring healthcare leaders and strongly advocates for gender equity, cultural diversity and social justice for all. She lives by the motto “if not now when, if not you who”.
Susan Sims
Safety Culture Lead, NSW Clinical Excellence Commission; Australia
Sue Sims is the Safety Culture Lead at the NSW Clinical Excellence Commission. Sue has over 30 years of clinical experience in healthcare and is a master’s qualified Executive Coach with a graduate certificate in Health Leadership and Management. For the past 10 years Sue has worked in leadership and staff capability development, organisational development and culture change. In a culture where safety is everyone’s responsibility, and everyone understands what it means for them, Sue is working to promote a Safety Culture framework that supports and enables the best possible conditions for staff and patient safety and experience.
Verity Powell
Clinical Nurse Consultant DOH Northern Territory, Department of Health; Australia
Verity Powell is a Nurse/Midwife and Clinical Nurse Consultant in the Northern Territory Clinical Excellence and Patient Safety team. Verity has worked clinically for the last 20 years extensively across the Northern Territory in remote communities and also air retrieval. She has a passion for culturally safe practise and is committed to closing the gap in health outcomes through effective communication which is fundamental in understanding.
Veronica Hope
Senior Project Officer, Safer Care Victoria (SCV); Australia
Veronica is a physiotherapist, senior project officer and Improvement Advisor-in-training. She has worked as a physiotherapist for 10 years in Australia and the UK, and is passionate about care of the older person, including falls prevention and rehabilitation. She is proud of helping launch a dedicated community falls service in Lewisham, South London, which included an innovative case-finding referral process to identify community-dwelling individuals at risk of falls. She is currently the Project Lead for the Age-Friendly Health Systems work at Safer Care Victoria.
Walid Jammal
Physician, Hills Family General Practice; Australia
Wally is a general practitioner and principal GP with a long held and excellent reputation both nationally, and internationally. Wally holds a special interest in higher performing primary health care with a specific interest in person centred care, quality improvement and safety science and achieving health improvement through the Quadruple Aim. His practice, Hills Family General Practice, are practicing as a Patient Centred Medical Home (PCMH) and was considered a leader in the Commonwealth’s Health Care Home Program and NSW Integrated Care project. Health and Primary Care reform and systems integration are central to the work that he does. He co-chaired the Primary Health Care Reform Steering Group which informed the development of the Future Focused Primary Health Care 10-Year Plan, endorsed by the previous Government and is a key informant, participating in the current Government’s Primary Health Care Strategic Reform Group responsible for developing a national strategic plan for primary health care and mobilising the Stronger Medicare budget.
Yasuyuki Nakae
Tsukazaki Hospital; Japan
Yasuyuki Nakae is a graduate of the Keio University Medical School. He completed his domestic ophthalmology training at the Tokyo Medical Center and is recognized as a Specialist International Medical Graduate in Ophthalmology. He is currently serving as a clinical ophthalmologist at Tsukazaki Hospital.
Zoe Wainer
Deputy Secretary, Victorian Government Department of Health, Australia
She has previously held roles as the Director of Clinical Governance and Head of Public Health at Bupa Australia and New Zealand, and Chair of the Board of Dental Health Services Victoria. Zoe also has deep expertise and a continued advocacy focus on the importance of sex differences across health from basic research to health systems implications. Zoe holds a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery from Flinders University, and has a clinical background in cardiothoracic surgery and thoracic surgical oncology. She has a PhD and a Master of Public Health from The University of Melbourne, is a fellow of the Australasian College of Health Service Management and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. She is an Enterprise (Hon) Professor at the University of Melbourne.