Speakers:

Keynote Speaker - Jan Vesseur

Jan Vesseur (1952) graduated medical school at Leiden University in 1977. He worked as a resident in surgery and followed the special training for being a general practitioner. From 1980 till 1993 he had his own practice as a general practitioner in a health care centre in Rotterdam. During this period he chaired the association of general practitioners in Rotterdam and helped in the development of a electronic patient record for the GP. In 1993 he became an inspector. After several functions within the Dutch Health Care Inspectorate he became the project-chief inspector for patient safety, health IT and international affairs in 2005. He is member of board of the European Partnership of Supervising Organizations in Health Care and Social Services (EPSO), an informal network of supervising bodies in health care in Europe.

Keynote Speaker - Ms Sandra Lee

Ms Sandra Lee

Permanent Secretary for Health
Food and Health Bureau, Government Secretariat
of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region

Ms Lee joined the Hong Kong Government in 1974 and was appointed to the Administrative Service in 1979.  She was promoted to her present rank of Administrative Officer Staff Grade A1 in 2002.

Over the years, Ms Lee has worked in a number of policy and resource bureaux, departments and overseas offices.

More recently Ms Lee was Permanent Secretary for Economic Development from 2002 to 2006, and Permanent Secretary for Health and Welfare from May 2006 to June 2007.

As Permanent Secretary for Health, Ms Lee’s portfolio covers policies on medical and health services, health care financing, development of primary health care and public Chinese medicine outpatient services, health promotion and prevention of communicable and non-communicable diseases, anti-smoking and tobacco control etc.  She oversees the co‑ordination of Government’s response to major health incidents and disease outbreaks.  She is a member of the Hong Kong Hospital Authority Board and oversees the work of the Department of Health.

Keynote Speaker - Sir Bruce Keogh

Sir Bruce Keogh is Medical Director of the National Health Service in England. He is responsible for clinical quality, policy and strategy and postgraduate education of doctors, dentists, pharmacists and clinical scientists. He is also responsible for the medicines supply chain in to the UK, including policy around the pharmaceutical industry, drug pricing, prescriptions and the role of pharmacy. He oversees the work programme of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) and the National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA).

He was a British Heart Foundation Senior Lecturer and consultant cardiothoracic surgeon at the Hammersmith Hospital in London before moving to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, where he became associate medical director for clinical governance and the cardiac surgical service lead. In 2004 he was appointed Professor of Cardiac Surgery at University College London and Director of Surgery at the Heart Hospital. He has been president of the Society for Cardiothoracic Surgery in Great Britain and Ireland,  Secretary General of the European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery and president of the Cardiothoracic Section of the Royal Society of Medicine.  He remains International Director of the US Society of Thoracic Surgeons. He has served as a Commissioner on the Commission for Health Improvement (CHI) and the Healthcare Commission and was knighted for services to medicine in 2003.

National Speakers

Brenda Ainsworth

Professor Chris Baggoley

BVSc (Hons), BM BS, B Soc Admin,
FACEM, FIFEM, MRACMA

Professor Chris Baggoley was appointed as Chief Executive of the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care on 21 December 2007.  Prior to this appointment he was Chief Medical Officer and Executive Director of Public Health and Clinical Coordination in the South Australian Department of Health.

His other medical positions were Professor/Director of Emergency Medicine at Royal Adelaide Hospital, Executive Director, Medical Services and Director of Emergency Services at ACHA Health SA and Director of Emergency Medicine at Flinders Medical Centre in Adelaide.

Professor Baggoley’s other key roles in health have been President of the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine, Chair of the Committee of Presidents of Medical Colleges, and Chair of the Board of the National Institute of Clinical Studies.

Jeffrey Braithwaite

Professor Jeffrey Braithwaite, BA, MIR (Hons), MBA, DipLR, PhD, FAIM, FCHSM

Foundation Professor and Director, Australian Institute of Health Innovation and Professor and Director, Centre for Clinical Governance Research, Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales.  Professor Braithwaite researches the changing nature of health systems, particularly patient safety, and the structures, networks and cultures of health care settings, attracting career funding of $36 million, chiefly NHMRC and ARC grants. He has published widely (more than 400 publications and 400 presentations) and received numerous national and international awards for both teaching and research. He has an international reputation for his work, and publishes in many leading journals including The Lancet, BMJ, Quality and Safety in Health Care, Social Science & Medicine and International Journal for Quality in Health Care.

Julian Burton

Julian Burton OAM is one of Australia’s leading social entrepreneurs and key note speakers.  His presentations are high energy, inspirational, full of passion and humor, all delivered with an authentic and fresh style.

Julian has an amazing ability to engage with his audience through sharing inspirational and hilarious stories with practical content, whilst at the same time challenging his audiences to understand the importance of mastering their own ‘mindsets’.

Julian is a dynamic and selfless person who established Australia’s first national community organisation for burn injury, the Julian Burton Burns Trust. 

In 2006 Julian was awarded the Order of Australia Medal (OAM) for his contribution to the community through the work of the Julian Burton Burns Trust across Australia.  In 2010 his efforts were recognised when he was a finalist for the Australian of the Year Award and was named South Australian of the Year. 

Kathy Dallest

Kathy Dallest leads the Clinical Safety Unit within the National e-Health Transition Authority (NEHTA) delivering clinical safety management activites within the development of NEHTA’s products and services to deliver eHealth for Australia. She is a nurse and public health practitioner and has over 16 years of experience in eHealth   covering  local and national health IT implementation and at policy and program delivery mostly within the Scottish eHealth programme. She is a professional member of the British Computer Society and a member of the UK Faculty of Health Informatics. Kathy’s international professional network has included strong links with Australia and now having returned from 26 years away she is actively increasing her professional network here.

Judith Healy

Mrs Cheryl Herbert

Mrs Cheryl Herbert was appointed as Chief Executive Officer of the recently formed Health Quality and Complaints Commission in September 2006.
Cheryl has extensive health leadership and management experience.   Prior to leading the Health Quality and Complaints Commission Cheryl had 10 years’ CEO experience as Executive Director of Spiritus Care Services which comprised the recently merged St Luke’s Nursing Service, Anglicare and Anglican Care of the Aged and previously CEO of St Luke’s Nursing Service.
Cheryl has qualifications in nursing and midwifery and is a Fellow of the Royal Australian College of Nurses Australia, Associate Fellow of the Australian College of Health Care Executives and an adjunct Associate Professor of University of Queensland.

Professor Clifford F Hughes AO

Professor Clifford Hughes is the CEO of the Clinical Excellence Commission in New South Wales.  For 25 years, until January 2005, he was a Senior Partner in an extremely busy cardiothoracic surgical practice at Sydney’s Royal Prince Alfred Hospital.  He has led five medical teams to China and performed numerous cardiac (open heart) procedures in six provinces in China.  He has also operated in Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, India and Bangladesh.  He was a Member of the Australian Council on Safety and Quality in Health Care and chaired taskforces on Safe Hours, Fatigue and Device Tracking.  He holds fellowships in the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, the American College of Surgeons, the American College of Cardiology and the American College of Chest physicians as well as the Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand.  Professor Hughes was awarded the Order of Australia in 1998 for “service to cardiac surgery, international relations and the community”.

Dr Karen Luxford, PhD, FAIM

Dr Karen Luxford has recently been appointed as the Director, Patient-Based Care at the Clinical Excellence Commission in NSW to head up a new Directorate to promote patient-centred care and its role in improving patient safety and health service quality. Prior to this appointment, Karen was General Manager of the National Breast and Ovarian Cancer Centre with over 10 years experience in senior executive roles overseeing programs in cancer control, information, policy and practice.

In 2009, Karen was a Harkness Fellow in Healthcare Policy & Practice at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Centre, Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA and studied exemplar health care organizations focused on patient-centred care and the role of patient feedback in improving quality of care. Karen’s interests include new models of care, patient care experience, promoting evidence-based best practice, and health services delivery.  

Karen is an Honorary Associate of the School of Public Health, University of Sydney, a Visiting Fellow, College of Medicine, Australian National University, and founding Executive Committee member of the Health Services Research Association of Australia & New Zealand.

Steven McConchie

Steven is the Group Director of Clinical Audit, Innovation & Reform at Epworth HealthCare. Epworth is Victoria’s largest not-for-profit health service with more than 1200 beds across acute, maternity and rehabilitation services. A key component of Steven’s role is the establishment of clinical audit and monitoring of clinical performance across Epworth’s many specialties and six campuses. This involves using clinical information systems to identify both outstanding practices and areas of concern so that responses can be targeted appropriately.

Steven has a particular interest in the development of effective and appropriate tools for measuring the quality of health care and has more than 20 years experience in health.

John McNeil

Professor John McNeil, MBBS, MSc, PhD FRACP, FAFPHM has been Chair, Monash University Department of Epidemiology & Preventive Medicine at the Alfred Hospital, Melbourne since 1986.

He graduated in medicine from the University of Adelaide, subsequently completing a PhD in Clinical Pharmacology at the University of Melbourne and a Master of Science degree in epidemiology at the University of London. He completed specialty training as a physician and subsequently held senior medical staff positions at the Austin, Repatriation, Alfred and Monash Medical Centres in Victoria. His research interests focus on drug safety and cardiovascular disease prevention.

During his career he has been a member of a wide range of national scientific advisory committees established by the National Health and Medical Research Council, the Commonwealth Departments of Health, Aging and Veteran's Affairs, the Royal Australasian College of Physicians, the National Heart Foundation, the National Stroke Foundation and Food Standards Australia.

He gave the annual Cottrell Lecture in Public Health at the Annual meeting of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians in 1998.

He has published over 300 scientific papers

Stephen Murby

Stephen Murby is a Governing Committee member and Treasurer of the Consumers Health Forum of Australia, the peak organisation providing leadership in representing the interests of Australian healthcare consumers.  He Chairs the Chronic Illness Alliance and is Chief Executive Officer of Cystic Fibrosis Victoria. Mr Murby is committed to ensuring that Australia meets the public health challenge of both an ageing population and an increasing number of people living with multiple condition chronic illnesses. Mr Murby brings senior management experience, a background in strategic planning and broad links with consumer networks to his roles in health consumer advocacy.

Stephanie Newell

Stephanie has been involved in the area of patient safety and quality of care and health consumer advocacy for a number of years. The catalyst for Stephanie’s involvement in this area was the events associated with the death of her son in health care.  As a consumer representative and advocate Stephanie is involved at local, state and federal health level to ensure the consumer voice and experience informs the areas of safety and quality. Stephanie is a member and senior representative of the Consumers Health Forum of Australia and also participates in the WHO Patient Safety, Patients for Patient Safety programme.  In 2005, Stephanie was selected with 20 other people from across the globe to form and take forward the WHO Patients for Patient Safety programme as patient Safety Champions.  This global group informs and contributes to the work of WHO Patient Safety, the World Health Organisation and its member countries on solutions to the global phenomenon of health care harm.

Passionate about ensuring the unique and valuable consumer experience and knowledge both informs health care practice about the impact of health care harm and activates change to cease health care harm, one of Stephanie’s most recent activities was developing, organising and co facilitating the Inaugural Australian Patients for Patient Safety 3 day Workshop held in Perth in July of 2009. Collaborating with WHO Patient Safety, the Health Consumers Council of WA, the WA Office of Safety and Quality and Curtin University of Technology this 3 day Workshop brought together selected health professionals, policy makers and health consumers from all areas of Australia who had experienced health care harm.  The purpose of the Workshop focused upon learning from one another’s experience and developing strategies and action plans to work in partnership to take the work forward for Australia. Outcomes from this event include the development of the Perth Declaration for Patient Safety, an educational documentary of the Workshop and the creation of an Australian partnership network for patient safety.

Dr Andrew Pesce

President - Australian Medical Association

Dr Andrew Pesce was elected Federal President of the Australian Medical Association (AMA) in May 2009.  The AMA represents the interests of more than 27,000 medical practitioners from all specialties and locations across Australia.

Dr Pesce is an Obstetrician and Gynaecologist who works both in private and public practice.  He has been Clinical Director of Women’s Health for Sydney West Area Health Service since 2006.

Dr Pesce’s priorities as AMA President include engaging with government to influence national health policy debate for the benefit of patients, the medical profession and the broader community.  He is also committed to increasing the AMA’s membership base.

In 2003, he was awarded the AMA President’s Award for his work representing the profession during the medical indemnity crisis.  Dr Pesce was Chair of the AMA Medical Indemnity Taskforce from 2003 to 2007 and was appointed to the Federal Government’s Medical Indemnity Advisory Panel in 2003 and to the Medical Indemnity Review Panel in 2006.

Dr Pesce was the Obstetricians and Gynaecologists Craft Group representative on AMA Federal Council from 2001 to 2007 and an AMA Executive Councillor from 2005 to 2007.  He was Chair of the Ministerial Expert Advisory Committee on Pregnancy Counselling from 2007-2009 and Chair of the National Association of Specialist Obstetricians and Gynaecologists from 2006 to July 2009.

Dr Pesce graduated from The University of NSW in 1983 and became a Fellow of the Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists in 1990.  He was awarded the Chris Hudson Fellowship for 1991-92, which enabled him to train at Whips Cross and St Bartholomew Hospitals in London.

Dr Pesce is married with two teenage daughters.

Sally Redman

Professor Redman is CEO of the Sax Institute which is funded by NSW Health to increase the impact of public health and health services research on policy and practice.  It is responsible for the 45 and Up Study, Australia’s largest study on health and ageing, and has developed innovative approaches to increasing the use of evidence by policy agencies. The Institute also has major programs in Aboriginal health research and health services research.  Professor Redman was previously the inaugural Director of the National Breast Cancer Centre, funded by Australia’s federal government to improve evidence-based care & outcomes for women with breast cancer.  She received the Centenary Medal for her work in breast cancer in 2003. Professor Redman’s primary research interest is in the evaluation of programs designed to improve health and health care; she has over 150 publications in peer review journals and currently holds $7 million in NHMRC funding. She has served on many national research and policy committees.

Melissa Sweet

Melissa Sweet is one of Australia’s most experienced health journalists. She writes for many professional and general publications, and also moderates Crikey’s health blog, Croakey. She is a founding board member of the Public Interest Journalism Foundation, established in 2009 within the Institute for Social Research at Swinburne University of Technology with the aim of promoting innovation in journalism at a time of transition for the industry. Melissa has written or co-authored four health-related books – Inside Madness (Pan Macmillan, 2006), Ten Questions You Must Ask Your Doctor (co-authored with Ray Moynihan, Allen & Unwin, 2008), and The Big Fat Conspiracy: How to Protect Your Family’s Health (ABC Books, 2007). Melissa is also co-author, with Professor Les Irwig, Judy Irwig, and Dr Lyndal Trevena, of a book which aims to give readers some tools for critically assessing health information: Smart Health Choices: Making Sense of Health Advice (Hammersmith Press, 2008, 2nd ed). Melissa holds honorary positions as Adjunct Senior Lecturer in the School of Public Health at the University of Sydney, and in the School of Medicine at Notre Dame University, Sydney campus.

Dr Keith Townsend

Dr Townsend is a Senior Research Fellow in the Centre for Research on Work, Organisation and Wellbeing and a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Employment Relations and Human Resources at Griffith University. His research interests include high performance work systems, and collaborative workplaces. He has performed extensive research in the construction, healthcare, and services sectors. He is the Guest Editor of two upcoming Special Issues of Journals on HRM in Hospitals - Human Resource Management Journal, and Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources. He has four books and almost 70 peer-reviewed publications in the areas of employment relations, human resource management and research methods.  

Emeritus Professor Michael Ward

Born in England and qualified in medicine at Kings College Hospital London. He trained as a gastroenterologist at the Western General Hospital Edinburgh & University of Edinburgh. He migrated to Australia in 1977 and has previously held positions as:

• Director of Gastroenterology Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital
• Director of Medicine at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital
• Head of Central Clinical Division of the University of Queensland School of Medicine
• Senior Director of Queensland Health Clinical Practice Improvement Centre.

He was appointed as Commissioner of the Health Quality and Complaints Commission in Queensland in January 2008

His recent research interests and publications relate to  healthcare delivery systems, especially issues relating to safety and quality.

He was awarded a Public Service Medal in 2008  for his work in healthcare services in Queensland