Keynote Speakers
Colm Henry, Chief Clinical Officer, Health Service Executive
Dr Colm Henry has been Chief Clinical Officer in the HSE since April 2018. He previously was the National Clinical Advisor and Group Lead for Acute Hospitals from 2014 – 2018, National Lead for the Clinical Director Programme from 2012 to 2014 and Clinical Director of the Mercy University Hospital Cork from 2009 to 2012. Following medical qualification, he underwent training initially in Ireland and completed higher specialty training in Scotland. He returned to Ireland following his appointment to the Mercy University Hospital as Consultant Geriatrician in 2002.
As the HSE’s first Chief Clinical Officer, he is responsible for aligning clinical expertise and leadership across the healthcare system from service and policy design to planning and implementation. A core function of the post is the design and implementation of clinical models of care to respond to and meet the challenges of healthcare in the 21st century. His office also is responsible for setting quality and patient safety standards across the health system and ensuring these are met. He is accountable for a number of key national services such as the National Cancer Control Programme and National Screening Service as well as Public Health reform. Dr Henry has lead the clinical response within the HSE to the COVID-19 Pandemic since the first case emerged in February 2020 provided clinical leadership to the HSE Vaccine programme and its rollout to the Irish population.
Prof Áine Carroll – Director at IFIC Ireland
Professor Healthcare Integration and Improvement at University College Dublin
Consultant Rehabilitation Medicine at National Rehabilitation Hospital
Áine is Professor of Healthcare Integration and Improvement at University College Dublin, Ireland and a Consultant in Rehabilitation Medicine at the National Rehabilitation Hospital in Dublin. She is a Director and Senior Associate of the International Foundation for Integrated Care (IFIC) and co-Director of IFIC Ireland. Prior to this, she was National Director of the Clinical Strategy and Programmes Division in the Health Services Executive. During her tenure, Professor Carroll established the Integrated Care Programmes for older persons, chronic disease, children’s health and patient flow to promote coordinated care and teamwork across services and specialties, ensuring that care is provided effectively and seamlessly to patients as they move through the system. Áine is acknowledged Internationally for her expertise in whole system change and implementation. An experienced Improvement advisor, she has provided advice, guidance and training on improvement and change to leaders of healthcare systems across the world. She is passionate about Person Centred Coordinated Care and Implementation Science.
Dr Niamh Lennox-Chhugani – CEO at International Foundation for Integrated Care
Dr Niamh Lennox-Chhugani has 30 years of experience in evidence-based transformation in healthcare internationally as a clinician, academic and consultant. Her experience has included integrated health and education service design and provision for children in the NHS in the early 1990’s, health system policy reform in post-conflict Bosnia-Herzegovina, advising on health system reform in the Russian Federation, scaling up infectious disease programmes in sub-Saharan Africa and implementing new care models in the NHS. She has provided leadership to teams in the public sector, commercial businesses and non-profits. As a subject matter expert on integrated care as part of wider healthcare reform, she has spoken at conferences, on panels, written papers, contributed as part of international teams to health system reviews. Most recently, Niamh led the healthcare practice at Optimity Advisors which included directing several EU-funded health projects. Since late 2019, she worked independently leading evaluations of digital health technology. She has a PhD from Imperial College London in organisation change in healthcare.
She has been an active member of the International Foundation for Integrated Care since 2015. Niamh has shared the International Foundation’s passion for integrated care from the beginning of her career as a clinician in the early 1990’s and all the way through her subsequent career as a leader, academic and advisor. Niamh was appointed as CEO by the IFIC Board in March 2021.
Jacqui Browne – Board Member, International Foundation for Integrated Care (IFIC)
Jacqui Browne has over 35 years’ experience of working at local, national, European and
International levels as a disability equality activist and consultant. Coming from a
background of advocacy for the patient voice as well as the rights of disabled people, she
has a particular interest in and is deeply involved in seeking the implementation of the UN
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Ireland.
Apart from her work in a wide range of disability initiatives, Jacqui is also actively involved as
a member of the IFIC Ireland Steering Committee and has recently joined the Board of the International Foundation for Integrated Care.
Jacqui has also written/co-authored a number of publications, articles and delivered
information seminars and training on them as appropriate.
Steve Thomas – Edward Kennedy Chair of Health Policy and Management and the Director of Health Policy and Engagement for the School of Medicine
Steve is the Edward Kennedy Chair of Health Policy and Management and the Director of Health Policy and Engagement for the School of Medicine. He is also a Health Research Board Research Leader with his RESTORE programme, focussed on health system resilience and reform. He has a wealth of international experience in policy-oriented research in government and academia over the last 28 years. He has strong links with the European and North American Observatories of Health Systems and Policies and was Visiting Professor at the University of Toronto in 2022. His track record in policy influence is outstanding. He led the Trinity team in support of the Oireachtas Committee for the Future of Healthcare and its production of Sláintecare which is now the chief health reform programme of the Irish government
Dr. David Mc Conaghy – ICGP/HSE Integrated Care Clinical Lead for Prevention and GP.
Dr. Mc Conaghy is the ICGP/HSE Integrated Care Clinical Lead for Prevention and a GP Partner in Sallins, Co. Kildare. His clinical interests include the management of chronic diseases in the community and out-of-hours care. He has Medical Director roles at KDOC & TLC Doc out-of-hours co-operatives well as being a GP trainer and ICGP examiner
Dr Sarah Mello – Consultant Physician in General and Geriatric Medicine, Integrated Care Program for Older Persons, University Hospital Waterford
Dr Sarah Mello is a Consultant in Geriatric Medicine and is currently working as clinical lead in the Waterford Integrated Care for Older Persons Program (WICOP), along with her colleague Dr Padraig Bambrick.
Dr Mello graduated with a medical degree from University College Cork, having moved to Ireland from California in 2004. She later attained a Master’s Degree in Clinical Education from the University of Edinburgh. Dr Mello went on to complete Higher Specialist Training in Geriatric and General Internal Medicine during which time she developed a wide breadth of experience working in both community and acute settings across the length of the country from Cork to Dublin to Donegal.
Prior to commencing her most recent role in Integrated Care in August 2022, Dr Mello worked as a Consultant in Peamount Healthcare developing an interest in rehabilitation. This interest was sparked by the person-centred, collaborative approach to care taken in the rehabilitation hospital, and inspired Dr Mello to undertake research showing that rehabilitation not only improved a patient’s physical function, but also their quality of life. During her time in Peamount, Dr Mello also developed an enthusiasm for interdisciplinary team working and supervised MDT members in completing higher-level degrees and research projects.
Tony Canavan – CEO of the Saolta University Health Care Group
Tony Canavan is the CEO of the Saolta University Health Care Group. He has worked in the Health Services in the West for over 30 years. Over that time he has held a number of appointments with the Western Health Board in the Mental Health Services, the Department of Public Health, Primary Care Services and Acute Hospitals Services. In 2012, he was appointed Chief Operating Officer of the first Hospital Group in the country known then as the Galway Roscommon University Hospitals Group, which subsequently became the Saolta Group and was extended to include Letterkenny and Sligo. In 2015, he became Chief Officer of Community Healthcare West before returning to the Saolta Group four years later as CEO. Since April 2021, Tony has held the position of President of the Health Management Institute of Ireland (HMI).
Damien McCallion – HSE Chief Operations Officer
Damien is currently the Chief Operations Officer. Prior to this, as part of the HSE response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Damien was appointed as National Director for the roll out of the COVID Vaccination and Test and Trace Programmes.
Damien was appointed National Director for the HSE Screening Services ensuring continuity of screening services and subsequently implementing a substantial change programme in the aftermath of the CevicalCheck controversy.
Over the course of his career he has had a number of senior roles including at National Director level in ICT, the Health Service Reform Programme, Emergency Management and the National Ambulance Service. He also served as Area Manager for Sligo/Leitrim/West Cavan, responsible for Acute and Community Care.
He also a former Director General and current Board member of CAWT (Co-operation and Working Together) which brings together the statutory Health and Social Care providers in both jurisdictions to achieve this. In addition, he is the HSE nominee to the Board of Safe Food.
Prior to joining the health services Damien spent over ten years working in the airline industry with British Airways in London.
Damien also holds a MSc. in Change and Innovation Management.
Deirdre Heenan – Professor of Social Policy, Ulster University
Professor Deirdre Heenan was formerly Provost and Dean of Academic Development at the Magee Campus. A distinguished researcher, author and broadcaster, she is a member of the Institute for Research in Social Sciences and has published widely on healthcare, education policy, social care and devolution. She is a co-founder and former co-director of the Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey.
In 2001 she was the recipient of a Distinguished Teaching Award and this was followed by a prestigious National Teaching Fellowship by the Higher Education Academy in 2006. In 2008 she secured an ESRC fellowship and spent nine months as policy adviser in the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister. In 2011 she was appointed by the health minister to join a five strong panel of experts to oversee a radical review of Health and Social Care in Northern Ireland. In 2012 she was appointed to the Irish President’s Council of State as one of the seven personal nominees of President Michael D Higgins.
She is a director of ILEX the Derry~Londonderry urban regeneration company and a school governor in two Derry schools, Foyle College and St Patrick’s Pennyburn.
A native of Annaclone, she was educated at Banbridge Academy and Ulster University. She lives in Derry with her husband and three sons.
Responsibilities: Corporate Communications, brand, internal communications, web development, Public Relations, including media relations and public affairs. As campus Provost for Coleraine and Magee, Professor Heenan also has responsibility for oversight of the general affairs of the campus including: service standards; pastoral care of students and staff and interaction with the wider community.
Dr Bridget Johnston – Research Assistant Professor, Public Health & Primary Care, Trinity College Dublin
I am a health economist focusing on applied health systems research, including evaluation of palliative care interventions across various healthcare settings and the affordability of healthcare for households in Ireland. I have experience in engagement with health policy makers in Ireland throughout the Health Service Executive, the Department of Health and the government. In addition to my research on palliative care in Ireland, I also collaborate on studies in the UK, US and Jordan.
Max Watson – Clinical Director, Project ECHO NI
Professor Max Watson is a Palliative Care Consultant in Omagh Northern Ireland and Director of Project ECHO working with both the HSC and the HSE across Ireland and also throughout the UK in developing ECHO networks and communities of practice.
The worldwide ECHO movement, dedicated to democratising specialist knowledge and reducing siloed care delivery is a world-wide movement involving more than 4 million participants in 120 countries across a wide range of health and social care settings.
Described by Don Berwick as, “Like an old Ford T that just takes you places” ECHO is a methodology for developing sustainable change and quality improvement supported by a research base of more than 400 articles in peer-reviewed journals.
Influenced by experience of working in rural Nepal for eight years Max has developed a range of educational programmes and handbooks, including the Oxford Handbook of Palliative Care and the European Certificate in Essential Palliative Care with the goal of “democratizing” specialist knowledge in line with Project ECHO. Max Holds honorary professorships in both England and India.
Martina Moore – Director of ICS NI – Department of Health, NI
Martina Moore is the Director of ICS NI in the Department of Health responsible for leading on the development and implementation of a new commissioning framework for health and social care services based on an integrated care approach. Prior to taking up post in 2019, Martina worked across a number of extensive change programmes in the public sector including Brexit, the restructuring of the NICS and welfare reform.
Liam Woods – National Director, Acute Hospitals Division, Health Service Executive (HSE)
A native of Dublin, Mr Woods is a UCD graduate and a qualified Chartered Accountant. Prior to joining the health services, he worked in the private sector in an accounting and consultancy organisation. He joined the health services in 1999 as Financial Director of the Eastern Regional Health Authority, serving in this post until the ERHA became part of the Health Service Executive in January 2005. Liam has been the Director of Finance of the HSE for an eight-year period, Director of Health Business Services for a year and Director of Acute Services from 2015 to August 2022. Liam has most recently been appointed as National Director of the RHA Implementation.
Session Moderators
Dr Siobhán Ní Bhriain – National Clinical Lead & Group Advisor for Integrated Care at Health Service Executive
Dr. Siobhán Ní Bhriain is a graduate of UCD and trained in Medicine and Psychiatry in the UK and Ireland. She worked as a Research Fellow in the Mercer’s Institute for Research on Ageing before completing her Higher Specialist Training in Old Age and General Adult Psychiatry. She has worked in Tallaght University Hospital/CHO 7 as Consultant in Psychiatry of Later Life since 2006 and was appointed Clinical Director for the Tallaght and St. James’s Mental Health Services in 2012, finishing up in 2018. During that time, she also served as Chair of the TUH Medical Board for four years and represented the MB at the Hospital Board. She took up the post of NCAGL for Mental Health in Jan 2019 and is moving to the role of National Clinical Lead for Integrated Care, Clinical Design and Innovation in February 2020. Her clinical interests include the diagnosis and management of dementia and delirium with an emphasis on the management of the psychiatric sequelae of those conditions. She also does complex capacity and consent assessments, as well having an interest in the psychiatric complications of Parkinson’s and related diseases. She is particularly interested in the development of integrated care pathways across the continuum of care for patients and has worked closely with colleagues in various settings to develop care pathways. She is a Member of the Royal College Physicians of London, the Royal College of Psychiatrists, the College of Psychiatry of Ireland and has recently completed an MSc in Leadership in RCSI.
Dr PJ Harnett – NCAGL Older Person General Manager, Health Service Executive (HSE)
PJ Harnett has worked in a variety of roles in Healthcare over the past 34 years before becoming the National Programme Manager for the Integrated Care Programme Older Persons. This included working in clinical practice, senior managerial and service improvement and development roles locally and nationally. Originally qualifying as a Mental Health Nurse, he holds a Masters in Nursing, Masters in Healthcare Management and a PhD in the area of implementing integrated care.
Paul Cavanagh – Director of Commissioning for the Department of Health NI.
Paul Cavanagh is Director of Commissioning for the Department of Health NI, Strategic Planning and Performance Group with responsibility for commissioning a broad range of services and initiatives.
He has been Assistant Director, Commissioning, leading on commissioning of health and social care services in the Western Area and regionally on ambulance services, radiotherapy services; and major trauma care in particular. He has long-standing involvement CAWT (cross-border statutory health organisations’ partnership).
Dr Sarah Barry – Director of Academic Programmes, RCSI
Dr Sarah Barry PhD is Senior Lecturer and Director of Academic Programmes at the School of Population Health, RCSI.
She served as Director the Centre for Health Policy and Management at Trinity College Dublin and
Director of the National HRB-funded SPHeRE PhD training programme, along with Directing Trinity’s MSc in Health Services Management for over 5 years.
She is a member of the Performance and Planning Committee of the HSE Board and was recently appointed by the Minister for Health to the Board of the HRB.
Fiona Lyne – Director at IFIC Ireland
Director of Communications at International Foundation for Integrated Care
In 2014, Fiona joined the International Foundation for Integrated Care as Director of Communications. Fiona is responsible for developing the overall brand, marketing and communication strategy for the Foundation. Fiona has worked in public policy communications since 2003. She began her career as a community stakeholder engagement manager at Fingal County Council in North Dublin supporting the local Community and Voluntary Forum to have an impact on local decision-making bodies. She went on to hold various project co-ordination and communication roles in both the public and private sector including periods with NHS North West London and the Royal Society of Arts. In 2010 she joined the King’s Fund, an internationally renowned healthcare policy think tank, as Head of Events and in subsequent years was responsible for moving the Fund into a leading position in the healthcare conference market.
Fiona has a BA in Politics and Economics from the University of Limerick, an MA in Community Development and Stakeholder Engagement from the National University of Ireland, Galway and a Diploma in Management from the Dublin Business School.
Albert Alonso– Senior Researcher at the Department of Research and Innovation (Clinic Research Foundation Barcelona, Hospital Clínic Barcelona)
Albert Alonso is a senior researcher at the Department of Research and Innovation (Clinic Research Foundation Barcelona, Hospital Clínic Barcelona). His work focuses on the definition, evaluation and implementation of new models for the provision of health services, with special emphasis on integrated care models. He has participated in numerous R & D projects that have explored, deployed and evaluated new modalities of care services, often using information technology.
Albert holds MD and PhD degrees in Medicine and a postgraduate diploma in Information Systems’ Management and Organisation, and is a lecturer in undergraduate and postgraduate courses. Among other relevant positions he has been vice-chair and chair of the International Foundation for Integrated Care.
Martin Hayes – Health and Social Care Northern Ireland (HSC NI)
A graduate in Politics and Economics from Queen’s University Belfast, Martin also holds a Master’s Degree in Health and Social Care Management from the University of Ulster. Martin has worked within the health and care sector in Northern Ireland for 33 years. The past 27 years have been largely spent in the field of primary & community care – the last 10 of which he has been leading on the introduction of Integrated Care Partnerships (ICPs) in Northern Ireland ( Integrated Care Partnerships (ICPs) – DOH/HSCNI Strategic Planning and Performance Group (SPPG) – formerly HSCB). Martin has also been instrumental in the establishment and ongoing success of Project ECHO in Northern Ireland (http://echonorthernireland.co.uk/). Martin is currently employed at the Strategic Planning and Performance Group (SPPG) of the Department of Health (Homepage – DOH/HSCNI Strategic Planning and Performance Group (SPPG) – formerly HSCB)).
Email; Martin.Hayes@hscni.net
Twitter: @martinh31dl