SPEAKERS 2025
John Wall
Having lived with an advanced cancer diagnosis for the last several years, I'm grateful to be in a position to share my lived experience, so that others may learn from it & I from them.
The patient voice is an important one & I'm a fervent advocate of using it responsibly & appropriately wherever possible. Advocacy can be a lonely & challenging place at times, but when results are yielded, the effort is surely worth it.
Outside of all this I'm an Air Traffic Controller by profession. Not sure which is the more difficult!
Sandra Broderick
Sandra is the first Regional Executive Officer to be appointed by the Health Service Executive and took up post in December 2023. Sandra is the
accountable officer at Health Region level, responsible for the delivery of high-quality, safe, and accessible Health and Social Care services for a
population of 420,000 in the Mid West, leading a workforce of 10,000 staff.
A qualified nurse with the NHS since 2004, Sandra is a passionate advocate for a universal, equitable
health system that provides safe care in the right place at a convenient time for patients.
Sandra has worked in Healthcare her entire career, returning to Ireland in 2018 to join the HSE as
Assistant National Director managing high quality health and social services for older people.
Sandra, the first REO appointed in the HSE reports directly to the CEO of the organisation, Bernard
Gloster, and has full responsibility for all Acute, Community and Public Health Services across the
Mid West.
Brendan Whelan
Brendan Whelan was CEO of Social Finance Foundation up to 2023, which provides loan funding to organisations in the community and charitable sector. Before this role, he was part of Senior Management in Bank of Ireland. He is a graduate in Commerce from University College Dublin, a graduate in Management from Stanford University in the U.S. He was appointed Adjunct Professor within Cork University Business School in the College of Business and Law in 2024.
With a daughter and grandson with additional needs, he has a passion for helping individuals with additional needs. This passion is reflected in his being Chair of Special Olympics Ireland for eight years up to 2023 and his involvement in two local Special Olympic clubs. He is also Chair of a Section 39 disability organisation in North Wicklow and Patron of the related Special School.
Besides his collective accountability as a member of the HSE Board, he sees the achievement by the HSE of a fit-for-purpose disability service as a specific governance accountability of his.
Joe Ryan
Joe currently serves as the National Director of Public Involvement, Culture and Risk Management at the HSE. This entails working in close partnership with patients, service users and colleagues across the health system to drive patient and public involvement in the co-design and co-production of health and care services. Joe also leads the organisation culture function to support the wider system in developing and promoting a positive, high quality, patient, service user and public centred service culture. As Chief Risk Officer Joe leads a team, who support the emerging Regions and national centre in risk management, compliance, data protection and protected disclosures.
In his spare time Joe is a volunteer emergency first responder with the National Ambulance Service
in his local community north of Dublin.
Anne Lawlor
Anne Lawlor is a board member of Rare Diseases Ireland and she is the current chairperson of the HSE Patient Forum.
Anne's daughter Áine, at age 15, was diagnosed in 1998 with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome. In 2007 Anne co-founded the 22q11 Ireland Support Group and since then she has worked in a voluntary capacity with families, academics and various healthcare professionals both at home and abroad.
In recognition of her advocacy efforts Anne won a 2017 Global Genes Champion of Hope Award and she was the 2022 recipient of the 22q international 'Unsung Hero Award'.
Anne's long-held vision for care-coordination for 22q was realised when Wesley Mulcahy was appointed as Complex Care Coordinator at the OLCHC 22q Pediatric Clinic in November 2021. 22q Ireland work in partnership with the clinic and together with CHI they won a 2023 HSE Health Service Excellence Award for their project, Complex Care Coordination: A Transferable Model of Care for Rare Diseases. The team won the award for demonstrating that parental liaison and putting young people at the centre of their healthcare decisions is having positive outcomes for people living with rare disease.
Anne's passionate interest in patient partnership and its benefits comes from her now 40 years experience of her life with her daughter whose complex care needs have continued into adulthood. She believes that transformative change for our health service is possible and can be achieved by working together with shared values and a shared vision.
Linda Sice Brogan
Linda Sice Brogan is Chief Executive Officer of Galway City Partnership and a
passionate supporter of meaningful patient and public involvement in health and
community services. As a dedicated Patient and Public Partnership (PPP) representative, Linda brings a wealth of experience in fostering collaborative engagement between service users, professionals, and policy-makers.
Linda co-designs and delivers projects that prioritise the voices of patients, families, and the wider public. Through her work with the National Screening Service (NSS), she has been involved in approaches to embed patient experiences at the heart of planning, evaluating, and improving screening services.
Linda is an advocate for the more socially vulnerable in our communities. She champions the integration of lived experience into decision-making, upholding the
principles of transparency, respect, and collaboration within every aspect of the PPP agenda.
Linda holds a master’s degree in Community Development and a post-graduate
diploma in Leadership in Health and Wellbeing.
Norma Deasy
Norma Deasy is a communications manager with the HSE's National Screening Service. She develops patient information and works with its Patient and Public
Partnership network.
Norma knows that people in Ireland, about 1 in 4, have challenges with health literacy. She focuses her work on improving the health services responsiveness to
health literacy. She uses plain language to help with this. She knows it makes information easier for people to find, understand and use. Her work creating
information with patients and the public also helps. She's confident that sharing clear information, developed with the intended audience, improves people's health.
In 2019, the National Adult Literacy Agency recognised Norma as a plain English champion’. An award for promoting clear communications in the workplace.
Norma has a degree in Languages and Business, a post-graduate diploma in Public
Relations and a master’s degree in Health Promotion and Project Management.
Clara Meehan
Clara Meehan, is an Occupational Therapist who graduated from Brunel University in London in
1998. She is currently employed as a Health and Social Care Lead with the Roscommon Service
Improvement Team in Mental Health. Her role on the team is to represent the HSCP’s within the
service and develop service improvement initiatives based on service user/family member feedback
and engagement. Clara also has lived experience as a family member and is passionate about co-
production in the development and evaluation of services in Mental Health. Clara recently graduated
from the University of Galway with a Postgraduate Diploma in Health Promotion and has a particular
interest in community development and equity in healthcare. Contact details: clara.meehan1@hse.ie
Donal O'Keeffe
Donal blends professional expertise (Academic Psychology and Service
Management) with lived experience leadership to promote mental health recovery,
translate policy, drive service reform, and enhance research impact.
As Manager of ARCHES Recovery College, he leads a team of people with lived experience and, together with mental health professionals, uses adult learning
principles to foster empowerment, promote belonging, and help people understand and manage distress. Donal and the ARCHES team bridge research, policy, and practice—championing inclusion, autonomy, positive risk-taking, and human rights in
mental health services. Donal advocates for a value based mental health system centred on justice, equality, respect, and compassion.
Donal also sits on the Editorial Board of the Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine and serves as Public Patient Involvement Lead for the €2.5M Health Research Board funded VISTA mental health research programme; ensuring lived experience and general public voices shape its direction. His research focuses on co-designing solutions that illuminate pathways to mental health recovery and transform mental
health systems globally.
Michael Ryan
Michael is National Head of Mental Health Engagement and Recovery (MHER) with the HSE
since 2019. Michael brings his own lived experience of mental health challenges and now enjoys a full life in recovery.
The Office of MHER’s function is to ensure that the perspective of lived experience and the recovery
approach is central to the design, development and delivery of improved mental health services.
This is achieved through utilising lived and recovery expertise as a therapeutic and service improvement tool. This is set out in the Mental Health Engagement and Recovery Office Strategic Plan 2023-2026 Engaged in Recovery
Michael has a strong record of accomplishment in recovery practice and innovation having worked
as an Advocate, as a Peer Support Worker, before being appointed as Director of Advancing Recovery in Ireland. His most recent role prior to taking up this appointment was as a Service Improvement Lead with the HSE where he worked on a number of innovative project including being the lead author on the ‘Framework for Recovery in mental Health’. Michael is a member of the DOH
Sharing the Vision National Implementation Monitoring Committee (NIMC)
In August 2024 Michael has been appointed chair of a WHO task force to develop lived experience
capacity across the WHO European region which was published in June 2025.
https://www.who.int/europe/publications/i/item/WHO-EURO-2025-12307-52079-79927
Michael is married to Angela and has one son and he lives on the shores of Clew Bay near Westport
in County Mayo
Joe Bowden
Joe Bowden, Patient Representative, has been a member of the St James’s Hospital Patient Representative Council (PRC) for the past 7 years. He has been attending St James’s Hospital for 11 years and joined the PRC as a way to give a little back to the hospital for the care he received and to help other patients. He has a keen interest in diabetes and antibiotic overuse. He participates in workshops, sharing his wound management and tissue viability lived experience and is a member of the RCSI Pressure Sore Avoidance Advisory Panel.
Maria Kane
Maria Kane has 34 years’ experience in St James’s Hospital. She is a RGN and has an MSc in Nursing and
qualifications in respiratory nursing, nurse midwife prescribing, leadership & quality and patient safety
complaints advocacy. While working at the frontline she designed, established and delivered innovative nurse
led services for respiratory patients.
She is currently working as a Quality Manager in St James’s Hospital, with responsibility for leading, supporting and advancing the hospital’s person-centred care programme.
Together with the Patient Experience Office Team she is responsible for the management of patient feedback,
facilitating the hospital’s patient representative council and enabling partnership and engagement with
patients and their families. Maria has overseen the hospitals’ participation in the National Inpatient Experience Survey and is passionate about ensuring the patient’s voice is heard and represented at all forums to inform quality improvements.
Loretto Grogan
Loretto is the National Chief Nursing and Midwifery Information Officer working in the National Digital Health Clinical Office. The purpose of her role is to provide leadership and strategic direction for nursing and midwifery in conjunction with her multi-professional leaders in digital health; ensure clinical practice is fully supported by the use of digital technology and data science; and the clinical workforce are empowered to practice and lead in a digitally-enabled healthcare system now and into the future.
She believes connected digital health can make all our lives better and delivering an enabling architecture to support Irelands overarching vision for healthcare which is Slaintecare is a fundamental driver for her role. She started her career training to be a Registered General Nurse in Beaumont Hospital and since then has undergraduate studies in information systems and an MSc in Health Informatics from Trinity College in addition to further studies in statistics, health economics, project management, and health innovation. She is published in a number of peer review journals and is a contributing author to a number of books.
Loretto has extensive experience working across health services and has worked in a variety of clinical and management roles in acute and community services, research, project management, data analytics, quality improvement and leadership roles. She is a professional member of the Irish Computer Society.
Eamon McPartlin
Eamon’s professional background is in engineering and he has a special interest in accessibility of the built environment. Eamon was diagnosed with motor FND in 2021 and also lives with another neurological condition called Dystonia. He has a passion for advocacy, peer support and research which is advanced by his ‘lived experience’
Eamon gained experience in patient advocacy and peer support through his roles as an advocate with Dystonia Ireland and as a peer support volunteer with a global FND charity. He gained valuable insight of the not for profit sector supporting those with neurological conditions when he was appointed to the board of the Neurology Support Centre in Sligo.
Eamon is an active HSE patient partner at both regional and national level. He is a member of a number of steering groups including the HSE National Neuro-rehabilitation Workstream Groups. Eamon has also contributed to research ‘focus groups’ such as the Neurological Alliance of Ireland report examining the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic on access to neurological services in Ireland.
Prof. Richard Greene
Richard is a graduate of Trinity College Dublin, gained much of his clinical experience in the Coombe Womens Hospital, Dublin followed by a Fellowship in Maternal-Fetal Medicine in Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Philadelphia, USA. On his return to Ireland in 2001,
he joined UCC as Senior Lecturer/Consultant in Obstetrics and Gynaecology: and took up his current posts as Director of the National Perinatal Epidemiology Centre (NPEC) and Professor of Clinical Obstetrics, UCC, in 2007. Richard was centrally involved in commissioning and establishing the new maternity services at CUMH and continues to
maintain a senior management position there.
The NPEC has become a key component of the national maternity service, leading to
significant learning and change from auditing outcomes for mothers and babies. His research interests include maternal-fetal medicine, epidemiology, health services research incorporating quality of service and the use of Information Technology towards the improvement of healthcare.
Richard has been a mentor and supervisor to many students, medical trainees and research
students undertaking Masters (8) and PhD’s (9 graduated; 4 current) and post-doctoral
researchers (4).
Richard is the HSE’s CCIO working across the Chief Information Officer and the Chief Clinical officer functions, assisting the multidisciplinary working for a digital health future.
Current key motivation - believes digital data and information flow between patients/service
users and healthcare staff is the key enabler for healthcare transformation in Ireland.
Personal Interests:
Family time; Walking in Irelands hills and Mountains; Out on the water – Surfboard, Kayak,
any floating craft particularly Sailing – (currently other people’s boats)
Deirdre Nally
Deirdre is Policy and Public Affairs Advisor at the National Disability Authority (NDA) where she is working on co-designing an outcomes-focused monitoring system for disability day services. She previously worked with the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) as a Research Officer, where she supported research on health and social care
monitoring and regulation.
Deirdre holds a PhD from the University of Limerick, where her research focused on developing performance evaluation strategies for Personal
Assistant Services, exploring how to measure the aspects of the services that matter most to people, rather than just what is easiest to quantify.
She also holds a Professional Diploma in Quality Management (Lean Systems) from UL and an MSc in Immunology and Global Health from Maynooth University.
Passionate about bridging research, policy, and practice, Deirdre’s work centres on advancing person-centred, evidence-driven approaches that
improve quality of life and strengthen accountability in disability and social care systems.
Jack Kenny
Jack Kenny is a passionate advocate dedicated to amplifying the voices of people with disabilities. Originally, from Fethard, Co. Tipperary, Jack attends the Mill Resource Centre in Clonmel.
Jack is partnering with the HSE and service providers to pilot an Assessor with Lived Experience role as part of the development of an outcomes-focused monitoring system for disability day services. Jack is a member of the HSE group ‘Day Services Voices Together’ and has completed three monitoring visits as an Assessor, where he uses his first-hand knowledge to inform and improve services for people with disabilities.
In 2022, Jack won an award at the Rehab Group National Advocacy Conference, for his contribution to the ‘Have Your Say’ campaign, where he highlighted the challenges of wheelchair-accessible transport in rural Ireland. His advocacy work led him to become an elected member of the National Advocacy Committee, where he continues to campaign for improved accessibility and inclusion.
Jack is an active member of his community and has used his platform to highlight key issues affecting wheelchair users and people with disabilities. Jack has achieved many of his lifelong goals, including recording a podcast and becoming a well-respected advocate.
Martina Lanigan
Martina has been working in both the statutory and non statutory disability sector for almost 25 years and is committed to the promoting inclusion and enhancing the lives of people with a disability, their families and advocates. Martina Lanigan works with the HSE as the National Day Services Coordinator in Adult National Disability Services, Access & Integration. Martina was instrumental in developing the mechanisms to implement the HSE’s day services policy - New Directions from its initiation to present day. - Martina’s with responsibilities include leading out on the on the development of the an Outcomes Focussed Monitoring System for adult day services that includes people with a disability as assessors. Martina also works within the team that manages the annual national process for school leavers with a disability and young people graduating from rehabilitative training programmes each year that require a HSE funded day service.
Martina works closely with people supported, HSE colleagues across the country, and service providers to create supportive environments that encourage new developments, innovation, service and process improvements, bringing a person centred focus to all the work.
Jessica Curtis
Jessica joined Genio as a National Programme Manager in 2024, having previously worked
as a Senior Project Manager in the HSE’s Mental Health Engagement and Recovery Office
(MHER) and a Senior Manager in Social Innovation and Community Development. She is responsible for a portfolio of work streams related to Lived Experience with Genio’s partners in HSE Disability, MHER, the Housing Agency and the HSE Social Inclusion Office.
Jessica has more than 20 years’ experience in innovation, engagement and strategic
planning in both statutory and voluntary sectors. Her career has focused on change and innovation roles in health, community and social spaces.
Jessica holds an MSc in Mental Health & Social Inclusion, as well as qualifications in speech
and language therapy, design thinking, workplace wellbeing and theatre. Jessica is passionate about the value of lived experience presence, literacy and expert applications.
She believes that the successful implementation of person-centred policies and roadmaps
like HSE’s Sharing the Vision, Better Together and the WHO roadmap for integrating lived experience will significantly improve both the patient and the health worker experience.
Ber Grogan
Ber is an activist, a change-maker and a woman who has eperienced the mental health services in Ireland. She has worked in the charity sector for two decades and has volunteered across many causes.
In recent years, Ber has been a leader in mental health, through her work as Policy and Research Manager in Mental Health Reform. Though she has moved into the housing and homeless sector, and dignified mental health care. She doesn't like the identity of patient because her mental health difficulties are part of what makes her so empathetic. After years of
self-advocacy, a woman’s health treatment is making a significant impact on her wellbeing.
Ber wants to see change across the health services, wants people to access their rights through the Assisted Decision-Making Capacity Act and wants medical professionals to respect the voice of people accessing services.
Laura Kavanagh
Laura is the Research & Advocacy Manager at IPPOSI – a public private partnership bringing together patients, science and industry since 2008. In this role, she also serves as co-chair of the HSE National Patient and Service User Forum.
Before joining IPPOSI in 2017, Laura worked for three years as the National Coordinator for a large European project focused on patient education and patient involvement - EUPATI. Before this, she gained extensive international and political experience, working in local government in the UK and with global organisations including the United Nations and the Council of Europe in Uganda, Kosovo, Strasbourg, and Geneva.
She is deeply committed to the belief that everyone has the right to health and quality care – and that each of us has a role to play in shaping a healthier future for ourselves and for generations to come.
Bernard Gloster
Bernard Gloster has been Chief Executive Officer of the HSE since March 2023. He has worked in health and social services for almost 37 years. He re-joined the HSE from the state Child and Family Agency Tusla where he served as Chief Executive Officer from September 2019. Prior to that, he held several senior management positions within the HSE including Chief Officer of HSE Mid-West Community Healthcare, and he worked in and managed in both community and acute hospital operations. He is a social care worker by profession, holds an MBA from Oxford Brookes University and an MSc in Management Practice from UCC. In 2024 he was awarded the inaugural Alumni Award of the Munster Technological University.
Geraldine O'Brien
Geraldine is the General Manager for the Patient and Service User Experience Team. She originally trained as a social worker and has worked as a social worker in Disability and Older Persons Services. She has previous experience working in Consumer Affairs, Business Manager for Older Persons and in National Corporate Offices within the HSE. She has post graduate qualifications in Quality and Risk Management and Data Protection.
Paddy Flavin
I was born, the eldest of 6 children in Waterford City in December 1949, and at the age of 2 we moved to Tramore, where I was reared until the age of 17.
In August 1967, I packed my bags and headed for Kildare and the Curragh Camp where the Irish Defence Forces training camp was located. I enjoyed it so much there, I stayed for the next 30 years
In 1968 I met the girl who was to become my wife and we married in 1971. Over the following 16 years we developed our family of 5 (3 girls & and 2 boys). And in turn, they have given us 6 beautiful grandchildren. We will celebrate 54th Wedding Anniversary this year. One of the regrets I had rearing a young family was that I left school at 14 and went into full-time employment. This meant that my only formal education was up the 6th Class Primary Certificate level. However, in 1983 I got the opportunity of returning to full-time Education to study for and take the Leaving Certificate Exam in 1985. I had the unique pleasure of sitting my Leaving Certificate in the same year and school as my eldest daughter, who was sitting her Intermediate Certificate at the same time.
As a soldier, fitness was very important to me from the age of 17 when I joined the Army as it was when I was leaving at the age of 47, and still is to this day. My daily walk amounts to an average 11,000 steps daily.
I was diagnosed with COPD in February 2022 accompanied by other medical problems. I was referred to HSE Naas Respiratory Care Services and in April 2023 I commenced an eight week Pulmonary
Rehabilitation Course in the HSE Primary Care Facility on Station Road Newbridge.
During my search for treatment from late 2020 up to this period I encountered many problems ranging from “No Diagnosis” to “Misdiagnosis”. This of course was because the world was dealing with a new and
frightening disease known to us now as Covid 19 and I, unfortunately was at the receiving end of “Long Covid”.
So, in 2024 I received a call from Mary Rose Cunningham inviting me to join a new pilot scheme being run by HSE called “Health Literacy”. This was to give us, the patients the ability to deal, firstly with our own medical conditions and, secondly to be capable of discussing with and asking questions of those Healthcare Professionals who are looking after us.
It was during this Health Literacy Course that I had an appointment at a hospital OPD for a routine check- up. It became apparent that a course of medication undertaken on a previous visit was NOT being terminated as promised. Here was the opportunity to put my newfound skills into practice. I reminded him of the previous consultation and he spoke to his boss and yes, they both admitted that the promise was made and the medication in question was terminated with immediate effect. I left the hospital that morning feeling rightly pleased with myself. Had I not spoken up, I would still be taking a completely unnecessary medication. It is very important for us as patients to be aware of the treatment & medication being provided and prescribed for us, and be prepared to question our Healthcare Professionals while in consultation with them. We won’t get the answers anywhere else. Remember, none of us are infallible.
Mary Rose Cunningham
Mary Rose is a Self-Management Support Coordinator for people living with long-term health conditions who is a former Public Health Nurse and Intensive Care Nurse
and holds a BSc in Health Science and has extensive clinical experience caring for critically ill patients, providing insight into the importance of primary and secondary prevention.
Mary Rose is also experienced in leading projects advocating for services and supports that empower people to manage their own health
Mary Rose has a strong interest in Health Literacy; believes tailored health literacy programs should be available to all service users to improve compliance and outcomes and is an advocate for patient-centred care, emphasising the importance of including the
patient’s voice at the core of healthcare decisions
Mairead Holland
Patient and Service User Engagement Officer in Dublin and Midlands Health Region.
This involves empowering patients and service users to be more actively involved in decisions about their own healthcare and also in the design, delivery and evaluation of health services.
I believe health literacy is an important element in ensuring that patients and service users can become active partners in their own care and can communication confidently with healthcare providers. This ultimately leads to a more person-centred and responsive health service.
Dr Cathy Breen
Cathy is a CORU registered Clinical Specialist Dietitian in Obesity and Diabetes, with a PhD in Nutrition, based in St Columcille’s Hospital in Loughlinstown, Dublin since 2003. She is a certified DAFNE Educator, Knuston Ireland and Behaviour Change Training facilitator, insulin pump trainer, and has co-authored a number of clinical guidelines that aim to improve and standardise high quality non-stigmatising diabetes and obesity care nationally and internationally, including the DUK Evidence Based Guidelines for the Prevention and Management of Diabetes, the Irish National
Clinical Guideline for Type 1 diabetes, and Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Management of
Obesity in Ireland. She is currently Chair of the Association for the Study of Obesity on the island of
Ireland. She was seconded to the National Clinical Programme for Diabetes as Interim Dietetic Lead
and sits on the Diabetes Language Matters working group.
Michelle Lowry
Michelle is living with type 1 diabetes (T1DM) for over 14 years now. She was diagnosed as a young
adult in the final year of her undergraduate studies in Occupational Therapy. Both Michelle’s personal experience and professional background contribute to her passion for advocating for individuals with various chronic health conditions. Michelle currently works as a Senior Occupational Therapist-Researcher in Trinity College Dublin. Michelle’s areas of interest include psychosocial support for chronic health conditions, person-centred care, and equity of healthcare access.
Michelle graduated with a MSc in Diabetes in 2022. Alongside her own lived experience of type 1
diabetes, Michelle has also had various professional roles in the area of diabetes including her role
as Support Worker working directly with young adults with T1DM for the pilot D1 Now study, her continued involvement with the D1 Now research team as a member of the trial management group, her contribution to various academic papers and conference presentations, as well as her
current role with the Diabetes Language Matters working group.
Vivien Lakatosova
Vivien Lakatosova is a young Roma woman committed to promoting her culture, traditions, and community. Her journey began in March 2022 with the Tipperary Roma Health Project, where she demonstrated consistent commitment and strong leadership. She actively participated in the Thurles Roma Youth Group, Tipperary Comhairle Na Nog, and the Junior Board with Youth Work Ireland Tipperary, serving as a secondary representative of Comhairle Na Nog and chairperson of the Junior Board of Management.
Her accomplishments include completing a PLC Level 5 course in Social Care and Psychology in 2025 and currently pursuing a Level 6 Business degree at TUS. She has actively participated in consultations, focused on a Successor Strategy to the National Traveller and Roma Inclusion Strategy 2017-2021, and on the Travellers and Roma Education Strategy. On International Roma Day, April 8th, 2024, she presented a 'Needs assessment of the Roma community in County Tipperary'. She currently works as a Diabetes Project Worker in collaboration with Youth Work Ireland Tipperary and HSE. Vivien is currently the Junior Board of Management Co-Ordinator with the youth service and is emerging as a young Roma advocate dedicated to improving Roma life in Ireland
Suzanne Nolan
Suzanne Nolan is the Regional Roma Health Lead with HSE Social Inclusion for the South East and has been in this role for 11 years. The main purpose of this post is to improve the health outcomes of Roma community members across the South East using a partnership approach. Suzanne has covered other roles in the HSE including acting as the Regional Intercultural Health Lead (co-ordinating health supports to Programme Refugees and People Seeking International Protection in the South East) and acting as the Regional Traveller Health Co-Ordinator.
Suzanne has supported the HSE Social Inclusion Team in the South to develop an equality and human rights approach to work which has regard to the need to eliminate discrimination against, promote equality of opportunity for, and protect the human rights of our service users and staff. This approach is underpinned by the values of dignity, compassion, participation, inclusion, and social justice. Before joining the HSE Suzanne worked in the community and voluntary sector for nearly 20 years in the areas of community development, family support, adult & community education, research and youth work.
Christine Fenton
Christine Fenton is a patient and service user living with chronic illness. She is wholly reliant on HSE services to enable her to live in her own home. She is a member of the HSE National Patient and Service User Forum.
Her professional life was in education in England in schools with students aged 11- 18 in deprived
areas.
She was responsible for strategic and financial planning, implementation practice, staff training, curriculum development and the programmes ‘Partnership, Behaviour and Respect for All’ and ‘Assessment, Recording, Reporting, Reviewing and Achievement’.
She moved from England to Ireland, to a derelict house and farm, to indulge her passion for horses,
dogs and cats.
Her declining health and subsequent reliance on HSE community and hospital services caused her to
search for HSE standards explaining ‘what should be happening’ which resulted in her reading HSE
documentation to try to understand ‘how our HSE works’.
She is passionate about the benefits of true partnership and the process of integrating partnership
into all areas of our HSE community.
Katie Ellwood
Katie Ellwood is a Project Manager within the HSE, managing projects under the National Clinical Director for Integrated Care. She holds an MSc in Health Economics and Management from Erasmus University Rotterdam, with a particular focus on improving
clinical practice with patient safety and quality management at the forefront.
Prior to joining the HSE, Katie worked with the Norwegian Directorate of Health on a range
of EU-funded health programmes, gaining valuable experience in international collaboration, cross-border healthcare, and policy development. She is currently involved in Ireland’s participation in the EU4Health Joint Action on cardiovascular disease (JACARDI),
supporting the implementation of innovative screening and risk stratification initiatives for those most at risk of cardiovascular disease.
In parallel, Katie is contributing to the development of the national clinical guideline for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME), supporting evidence-based improvements in the recognition and diagnosis of this complex condition. Her work is driven by a commitment to delivering integrated, person-centred care, grounded in data and collaborative policy
approaches.
Elaine Dobell
Elaine Dobell trained as a Physiotherapist receiving her BSc from the University of East London, UK. She then worked as a chartered clinical physiotherapist at several hospitals in London and moved into a physiotherapy management role in 2000. In 2007, Elaine was awarded a Masters Degree in Health Management from The City University, London and
later that year Elaine and her family moved to the Republic of Ireland to take up a Physiotherapy Manager-in-Charge post at Galway University Hospitals. Elaine then went on to complete a MSc Health Informatics from University of Limerick in 2015.
Elaine then moved to work with the Saolta Group Executive in various roles including Clinical
Projects and Service Improvement. In 2019, Elaine worked as part of a clinical triumvirate to establish the new Saolta Women’s and Children’s Clinical Network. All of these roles focussed on quality and patient safety, service improvement and redesign, project
management and patient and service user partnership.
For the last two years, Elaine has worked with the National Clinical Director for Integrated Care in leading National Clinical Programmes and providing clinical advice to the HSE, Department of Health and the public.
Elaine has also had opportunities to lecture on undergraduate and postgraduate programmes on health services governance and structures and is currently lecturing on a Level 9 Healthcare Analytics Programme in ATU.
Adéle de Vries
Adèle is a Project Manager in the Clinical Design and Innovation team at the Office of the Chief Clinical Officer, HSE. She leads initiatives such as the Your
Voice Matters National Patient Engagement Platform, which empowers patients and families to shape healthcare improvements. Under her leadership, Your Voice Matters surveys have helped inform national policy direction while also driving enhancements in local healthcare services. With a background in pharmacy and over a decade of patient-facing experience, Adèle combines clinical insight with
design thinking to deliver meaningful, patient-centred innovations. She is passionate about ensuring that patient voices are not only heard but translated into tangible improvements in healthcare.
Dr. Edel Tierney
Dr Edel Tierney currently serves as a National Research Officer at Tusla — the Child and Family Agency. Before taking on her current role, Dr Tierney held a post-doctoral research position at the
UNESCO Child & Family Research Centre (UCFRC) at NUI Galway. There, she contributed
to a key initiative—the Children’s Participation work package—which formed part of Tusla’s Development and Mainstreaming Programme for Prevention, Partnership and Family Support (PPFS). Her research examined how participation by children and young people could be effectively embedded within Tusla’s service delivery, with particular attention to
vulnerable and marginalized groups and participatory research methods.
Her broader research interests span:
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Children and young people’s participation in decision-making, particularly within child welfare and protection services;
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Implementation science—how research findings can meaningfully inform practice and national policy;
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Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) in research, especially in engaging socially excluded communities
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Community participation in primary care and stakeholder involvement in research, design and delivery.
Dr Tierney is a co-author of several influential reports and journal articles.
Her work has contributed to impactful, child-centred research that has garnered recognition at national and European levels. Notably, a collaborative study involving Tusla and Trinity College Dublin. Titled “Through the Eyes of the Child: A Study of Tusla Child Protection &
Welfare Intervention”, received the 2023 European Social Services Award. The study was commended for authentically amplifying the voices of children involved in the child protection system and promoting change in practice and policy informed directly by children’s experiences.
With a robust foundation in participatory research, implementation science, and public involvement, she plays a crucial role in guiding research strategy at Tusla to ensure that the insights and lived experiences of children and young people are meaningfully integrated into service planning and policy.
Edel Murphy
Edel Murphy is the national Programme Manager for the PPI Ignite Network in Ireland. Edel has worked in public and patient involvement (PPI) in research for a number of years, working with researchers across all disciplines and with the public to build PPI capacity
among both constituencies, delivering education and training and providing support to help researchers understand how to plan for and embed the public and patient voice across their research.
In her current role, Edel is driving the development and growth of an energetic, collaborative and innovative Network, which brings together a diverse range of stakeholders nationally and internationally to build a shared voice for PPI in research in Ireland. Edel
facilitates knowledge exchange and sharing of skills and expertise across all involved in the Network. She excels in designing and delivering innovative and thought-provoking training workshops. Centrally located in the Network’s national office, Edel connects people and organisations and conducts wide ranging engagements and two-way dialog with numerous
and diverse partner organisations.
Ashleigh Kienan
I am 22 years old and I have been a part of YAC for a decade. Some of the projects I have been involved in over the years with CHI include working with the architects on the design of the hospital, inputting into the art work, facilities and facilities needed in the rooms in the new hospital, new policies, teaching staff about good communication and the patient voice and working with the HSE on transition from Paediatric to adult services.
Grace McKenna
I'm 22 years old and I've been a part of YAC for 10 years since 2015. I've been a part of multiple different projects such as the design of the artwork for the new children's hospital, the re-promotion of engagement in sports for young people with health conditions and our Youth Advisory Council recruitment videos.
Emily Fitzsimons
My name is Emily Fitzsimons I am 17 years old and I’m going into my final year of secondary school. I’ve been a member of YAC for the last 10 years and it’s truly
been the most rewarding and amazing experience. Some of the projects I’ve been involved in that I’ve enjoyed and am super proud of are: The art for the new children’s hospital, The dandelion clock in Tallaght hospital, The art for the car park and speaking with consultants and doctors about how to make the patients experience in hospital more comfortable. The last thing I’m most proud of and I think we can all agree on is meeting the President Micheal D Higgins. That’s an experience I’ll never forget.
Claudine Frame
My name is Claudine Frame, and I am the partnering with Patients Coordinator in Children’s Health Ireland. The main aspect of my job is in patient/family/parent engagement and involvement in CHI service and project design. As part of this role, I coordinate the CHI
Youth Advisory Council (YAC) which is a group of young people aged between 12 and 21 years of age who are all patients or former patients of CHI. In addition, to this I am also a coordinator of the FCHI Family Advisory network, which consists of CHI parents, support
groups and advocacy groups. Between these 2 groups, CHI is building its foundations for patient engagement and the co-designing of services, policies and representation of committees.
Kevin O'Farrell
My name is Kevin O’Farrell and I work as the Patient Experience and Feedback Lead for Children’s Health Ireland (CHI).
In my role I am responsible for Patient Experience, Engagement, Partnership and Feedback in CHI. I have the privilege to work closely with the CHI Family Advisory Network and to be the Chairperson of the CHI Youth Advisory Council. 3 members of the Youth Advisory Council will be presenting at today’s conference and showcasing a poster in the foyer. Please come and meet our members and coordinators to find out more…
Naomi Bartley
Naomi Bartley is a Registered Children’s Nurse, Registered General Nurse and Registered Nurse
Tutor at the Centre of Children’s Nurse Education, based at Children’s Health Ireland. With a strong
clinical background in children’s nursing and a passion for education, she currently leads a national
initiative that supports the continuous professional development of nurses that care for children with complex healthcare needs in the community.
Her work involves the design and delivery of continuing education programmes that support high- quality, child and family-centred care. Naomi is a strong advocate for advancing children’s nursing education through meaningful collaboration and partnerships with families and healthcare professionals. Recognising parents as experts in their child’s care, she is committed to co-designing education with families. She aims to support nurse education that is evidence-based, holistic and
informed by the lived experiences of children and their families.
Mark Bolger
Mark is a family carer to three people living with CIPO, the ACTG2 gene mutation and MMIHS. Over the last 8 years, they have battled with and survived sepsis, adult TPN dependency and caring for his daughter who is currently long term TPN dependent. He has great experience in advocating for patient rights for his own family and especially his daughter who has undergone multiple surgeries both here and in the UK.
He is a big believer in patient advocacy and peer support in the community, that communication and understanding is key from both patients and medical professionals to enhance our care services and support for our children's medical journeys.
Mark is the co-founder of Chronic Health Advocate clg, a not-for-profit organisation that provides accessible, innovative supports for individuals and families living with complex, life-altering and chronic illness. Mark set up this organisation alongside his wife, to develop new care supports for families that were not currently available for dealing with the non medical burdens of living with illness within the family.
Mark has worked on a number of committees as a patient partner contributor. He is currently a member of the Research Ethics Committee within Children's Health Ireland (CHI), a patient partner forum committee member at University Hospital Waterford and has contributed to the development of the new program developed within CHI: "Caring for Children with Complex Needs""
Iolo Eilian
Iolo is a Social Worker by Profession having worked in the NHS in Wales and Northern Ireland for over 25 years. He started his career in Wrexham Social Services and very early on was given the opportunity to lead on the design, development and implementation of ‘Direct Payments’ where his interest started in what we now know as ‘Partnership’.
Before moving to ROI Iolo was Lead Commissioner in NI for People with Mental Health and/or Intellectual Disability across Community and Acute Services. He led on ‘re-settlement’ of people with Mental Health and/or Intellectual Disabilities from long term hospitals to the community and developed Quality of Life Indicators to measure the success of this transition.
Iolo also led on the co-production of Day Opportunities in NI shifting from the Traditional Day Care services.
Prior to moving into the AND role within the National HSE Team Iolo was Head of Service for Older People in Community Health Care West.
Iolo is passionate about working in partnership with people to create 'Our HSE'.