Speakers

Spearheaded by Carol Black as National Director, Health, Work and Wellbeing is a joint initiative across government to improve the health and well-being of working age people.

Before assuming the post of RCN General Secretary in January 2007, Dr Carter spent almost 12 years as the Chief Executive of the Central and North West London Mental Health NHS Trust, one of the largest mental health trusts in the UK with an operating budget of over £180 million and an international reputation.

He commenced his NHS career by training as a psychiatric nurse at Hill End Hospital St Albans. He is also a general nurse, having trained at St Albans City Hospital and the Institute of Urology in London. In addition he has held a number of clinical and managerial posts in Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, and London.

Dr Carter is a graduate and a member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel. He also has a Masters Degree in Business Administration and a PhD—both from the University of Birmingham. He was awarded the OBE for services to the NHS in the 2006 New Year's Honours.

Married to a lawyer, Graeme Catto has two children, four grandchildren and an English setter. He enjoys the hills and glens of Scotland.

He is chair of the National Information Governance Board for Health and Social Care, an advisor to The Health Foundation and to Macmillan Cancer Support and a trustee of Comic Relief.

Harry has written many articles and book chapters and his co-authored book for carers and people with dementia has been published in eight languages. He is a regular speaker at national and international conferences.

He was awarded the OBE in 2001 for services to people with dementia. He received the Alzheimer Europe Award in 2004, and was Distinguished Graduate of the University of Ulster 2005. In 2007 he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Royal College of Psychiatrists and a Fellowship through Distinction from the Faculty of Public Health.

Iain Chalmers was director of the UK Cochrane Centre between 1992 and 2002, and director of the National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit between 1978 and 1992.

A social scientist by training, Angela has a doctorate in health services research from the University of London and has published widely on health policy topics. She holds Honorary Fellowships at the Faculty of Public Health and the Royal College of General Practitioners. She is an advisor to the Department of Health in England and several other policy-making bodies on issues related to patient and public involvement.

Sally led the UK delegation to the WHO Ministerial Summit November 2004, spoke on R&D at the World Health Assembly in May 2005, is a member of the WHO Global Advisory Committee on Health Research (ACHR), and is currently chairing the Expert Advisory Committee for the development of the WHO research strategy. She is a member of the International Advisory Committee for A*STAR, Singapore and the Caribbean Health Research Council Board.

Her own research interests focus on Sickle Cell disease. She was a member of the steering groups for the Biotechnology Innovation and Growth Team, chaired by Sir David Cooksey, and its "Refresh" the Health Care Industry Task Force and is a member of the Health Innovation Council

He is Chairman of the Department of Health's Individual Budgets Reference Group, and this year chaired a cross party Health Commission for the Local Government Association (LGA). He also chaired a working group for the Department of Health on the governance of professional regulation.

Niall is a member of the Cabinet Office Honours Committee (Health), the NHS National Stakeholder Forum, the ministerial sounding board on social care, a Trustee of the Consumers Association (Which?), a Patron of the children's charity ERIC (Education and Resources for Improving Childhood Continence), and sits on the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine Court of Governors.

Niall was educated at Glasgow Academy, Edinburgh Academy and at Edinburgh University where he read politics and modern history and at post graduate level, education. He taught for two years at a comprehensive school in Edinburgh before joining the policy and research body, the National Corporation for the Care of Old People (now the Centre for Policy on Ageing). From there he went to Age Concern England, first as a Press Officer and later as Head of Publishing. In 1981 he took over as Editor of Therapy, a weekly newspaper for the allied health professions, and in 1983 was appointed Editor of Nursing Times. During his editorship, the journal doubled its circulation and won a string of awards including, on two occasions, the magazine industry's top accolade "Business and Professional Periodical of the Year". In 1988 Niall moved to the BBC as Health Correspondent and went on to become Chief Social Affairs Correspondent. He became Social Affairs Editor in 1995 where he headed a team of more than 80 journalists covering all aspects of social policy. His day to day work concentrated on the BBC TV Ten O'clock News and the Today programme on Radio 4. He has also been responsible for numerous television and radio programmes on health and social issues.

In 1997 he won the Charles Fletcher Medical Broadcaster of the Year Award from the British Medical Association, and in 2002 won a nomination in the Royal Television Society Awards.

He is married, lives in Kent, and has three grown up children.

Since coming into post, Sir Liam has authored a series of ground-breaking reports aimed at transforming a wide range of areas of health, health care, and medical science, for example: producing the country's first comprehensive health protection strategy; proposing new legislation to allow carefully regulated stem cell research; addressing poor clinical performance; introducing a comprehensive programme for patient safety; and empowering patient self-management of chronic disease.

Sir Liam is probably best known for three of his achievements. First, his trailblazing annual reports, which have brought major health concerns to public attention, in particular the need for smoke-free public places, the obesity 'time bomb', and the problems of binge drinking. Second, his creation of the concept of clinical governance—a clinically led way to assure high standards of care—which is now an internationally recognised approach in healthcare. Third, his leadership of patient safety as a priority for healthcare systems around the world. His report An organisation with a memory shaped policy on patient safety in the United Kingdom and his chairmanship of the World Health Organization World Alliance for Patient Safety has moved action to a global scale.

Sir Liam has received honours and awards from many public bodies. His published writing and research on health and healthcare subjects is very extensive. He has given many keynote addresses at conferences. He is an experienced broadcaster and public communicator.

The Centre has grown from strength to strength, with a database of over 2000 scientists which is used by all sections of the national news media. The Science Media Centre has earned huge praise and respect from those who use its services and was the subject of a glowing Editorial in Nature magazine which paid tribute to the 'robust leadership' of its Director.

In his previous post as Director of Research and Development for Anglia and Oxford Region, he was in a position to support the UK Cochrane Centre in its early days, and to set up the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine. For 10 years he was Programmes Director for the UK National Screening Committee.

Sir Muir Gray is the author of Evidence-Based Healthcare, the third edition of which is in preparation, and joint author of The Oxford Handbook of Public Health Practice. His most recent books are The Resourceful Patient, Evidence-Based Surgery, and How To Get Better Value Healthcare.

Sir Muir Gray's most recent venture in 2008 has been to set up a charity called Knowledge Into Action. This is separate from his NHS work but is based on the same fundamental belief that we can improve health by the application of the best knowledge through the best systems. The charity has several programmes, including The Campaign for Greener Healthcare, The National Walking Campaign, and Oxford Health Systems. He has also started using digital broadcasting to share his experience.

You can find out more on www.soundshealthy.org and www.knowledgeintoaction.org

His role is to influence health policy on behalf of members, develop the Confederation's policy positions on areas of key interest to members, and to speak on behalf of NHS organisations, particularly in the media. Nigel has established the Health Services Research Network as part of the Confederation to provide a voice for the research community and improve dialogue between managers, policy-makers, and research. Previously, Nigel was Director of the London Health Economics Consortium at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine which undertook a number of high profile strategic consultancies for the NHS, the World Bank, and the Department for International Development. He is an Honorary Visiting Professor at the LSHTM.

She is an active clinician in Neonatology, continuing regular on call duties during her Presidency, and her research interests have included the pathophysiology of birth asphyxia. She has been a Medical Director at St George's Hospital.

She has been closely involved in developing new training programmes and teaching and assessment methods, and in working to develop appropriate education and training for paediatricians.

Dr Hamilton has chaired many College committees and working parties including those that produced training packages in child protection and child mental health. She is currently chair of the steering group of the Clinical Engagement in Medical Leadership project run by the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges and the National Institute for Innovation and Improvement. This is developing curricula in clinical management and leadership for medical undergraduates and postgraduates.

She is a member of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges and sits on several of its Education and Training Committees. She is also a board member of the Postgraduate Medical Education and Training Board.

She was co-Chair of the London Children's Clinical Pathways group which contributed advice on the future structure of health services for children and young people in London. She is a member of the leadership group of Lord Darzi's Next Stage Review.

He has written a number of books, including Structures, a book about building and civil engineering, and more than 40 science and technology titles for children and teenagers. He was appointed CBE in 1998 for services to the newspaper industry and science, and was the Medical Journalists Association health writer of the year in 2007.

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 was until recently president of the Society for Cardiothoracic Surgery in Great Britain and Ireland, Secretary General of the European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery, and remains International Director of the US Society of Thoracic Surgeons. He has also been president of the Cardiothoracic Section of the Royal Society of Medicine. He has a long standing interest in clinical quality and outcomes. 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.

Professor Pollock has given evidence to the Health, Transport, and Treasury Select Committees of the House of Commons UK, and to the Finance Committee of the Scottish Parliament. She has also co-written articles on the impact of the WTO and GATS on health and other public services and is the co-author of The New NHS: A Guide (Routledge) and author of NHS Olc (Verso).

Her recent publications are here.

He was the Ruth and Lionel Jacobson Professor of Clinical Pharmacology at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne from 1973 to 2006. At the same time he held the position of consultant physician and consultant clinical pharmacologist to the Newcastle Hospitals NHS Trust. He was vice-chairman (1987-1992) and chairman (1993-1998) of the Committee on Safety of Medicines.

His own research interests include prescribing behaviour and pharmaceutical policy, and clinical-effectiveness and cost-effectiveness.

His work for the British Medical Association includes chairing its Medical Ethics Committee for 9 years, and its Representative Body for 3 years. He also helped to establish a service for the support of doctors with health problems.

He is a trustee of the Sick Doctors Trust, and chairman of the Rehabilitation of Addicted Prisoners Trust, both charities active in addiction treatment.

He has been a member of the UK delegation to the CPME since 2002, and chaired its ethics committee until December 2007. He has been CPME President since January 2008.