INTRODUCING OUR MASTER OF CEREMONIES:
LUKE ESCOMBE, THE VEGETABLE PLOT

BIOGRAPHY:
Luke Escombe is an award-winning singer-songwriter, comedian and speaker who works in entertainment, health and education. He is the creator of "Chronic", a one-man comedy show about living with Crohn's Disease, and "The Vegetable Plot", a nationally-touring children's band. He is also the exceedingly humble owner of "Sydney's sexiest man voice", an accolade he won in a phone-in poll on a popular radio station (though he doesn't like to mention that unless absolutely necessary...)

As an advocate for people living with IBD, Luke's unique, honest, and often hilarious perspective on his own health issues has made him a sought after keynote speaker and MC at events around the world. His ability to take his real life struggles with chronic illness and turn them into laughter and music earned him a 2017 WEGO Health Award in the category of "Hilarious Patient Leader". He is an ambassador for Crohn's and Colitis Australia and has spoken three times at Parliament House in Canberra on their behalf, as well as at events in Chicago, Miami, Vienna, Bangkok, New Zealand and all over Australia.

Luke was once described by John Shand in the Sydney Morning Herald as "a rock-soul singer, raconteur, blistering blues guitarist, comedian and songwriter...and very good at them all" and is most often described by himself as "the Mick Jagger of inflammatory bowel disease".
                         

WELCOME TO COUNTRY:
UNLCE RAY DAVISON, DIRECTOR, METROPOLITAN LOCAL ABORIGINAL LANDS COUNCIL

BIOGRAPHY:
Ray is a Gadigal man, director of the Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Lands Council and recently retired Aboriginal Health Worker from Redfern Aboriginal Medical Service.

Childhood was spent at La Perouse, where on weekends Ray would “dive for a penny” off the old pier for the tourists, collect golf balls and caddy on the golf course. A move to Burragarang Valley during the initial development of Warragamba Dam gave Ray and his siblings the opportunity of living in the bush for a few years before briefly returning to La Perouse and then settling in Liverpool. The passing of both parents before adulthood sent Ray and siblings to Redfern, Darlington, Forest Lodge, Annandale and other havens of the inner city.

Early adulthood gave Ray numerous work and career related experiences. All combined to build a social consciousness that strived for equity and equality for his fellow people.

For more than 30 years Ray worked for the Redfern Aboriginal Medical Service, as one of the founding health workers he was instrumental in the growth and development of the service – a service dedicated to the health and well-being of the local Aboriginal community. Ray worked in collaboration with the community, boards, management and fellow health service providers to give the Aboriginal community of the heart of Sydney a culturally appropriate and professional health service.

Ray advocates for social justice, community development and empowerment, equity and equality for all. As an Aboriginal Health Worker Ray promoted and accredited fundamental qualities, capacities and capabilities to be delivered by all people involved in the health and well-being of the Aboriginal community.

Ray is married with three sons and has nine grandchildren. His wife and life-long partner Jan was until recently an Aboriginal Health Worker as are two of his three sons.

KEYNOTE:
MATTHEW WILLIAMS, SENIOR MUSCULOSKELETAL PHYSIOTHERAPIST, ROYAL NORTH SHORE HOSPITAL, NORTHERN SYDNEY LOCAL HEALTH DISTRICT

BIOGRAPHY:
Matthew is a physiotherapist and musculoskeletal coordinator of the osteoarthritis chronic care program (OACCP) at royal north shore hospital. He has played an active role in the training of coordinators in the OACCP, which has now been established across every Local Health District in NSW. He has held advisory roles for the Australian Physiotherapy Association and recently contributed to the development of the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care's Osteoarthritis of the Knee Clinical Care Standard and was a member of the working party that developed the National Strategies Action Plan for Arthritis.

He also has an interest in research and has published in a number of internationally renowned journals focusing on strategies to improve the quality of care for individuals with osteoarthritis

KEYNOTE:
ELIZABETH KOFF, SECRETARY, NSW HEALTH

BIOGRAPHY:
Elizabeth has held a number of Senior Executive roles within the NSW health system, across operational and policy portfolios.

Elizabeth was appointed Secretary, NSW Health in 2016. As Secretary, Elizabeth is responsible for the management of the NSW health system ($24 billion budget and 118,000 FTE) and setting strategic direction to ensure NSW continues to provide exceptional healthcare, research and education.

Elizabeth is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Technology Sydney, a Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD), a Fellow of the Institute of Public Administration Australia (IPAA) and a member of Chief Executive Women.

KEYNOTE:
DR NEIL BACON, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, INTERNATIONAL CONSORTIUM FOR HEALTH OUTCOMES MEASUREMENT (ICHOM)

BIOGRAPHY:
Dr Neil Bacon is the President and CEO of ICHOM and joined in October 2018.

Dr. Bacon is an Oxford and Harvard trained nephrologist, with a distinguished clinical and academic career, and brings unique experience of strategic leadership at the intersection of healthcare, data, and technology. In 1996, Dr Bacon founded Doctors.net.uk, which has become one of the world’s largest online medical networks used by nearly one quarter of a million physicians worldwide to rapidly obtain clinical information, education, medical news, and career opportunities. In 2008, Dr Bacon founded iWantGreatCare, an independent organization enabling patients to rate and review their doctors, dentists, hospitals, after-care facilities, and medications where he was CEO.

With reviews from more than 5 million patients in 23 countries, iWantGreatCare has become a powerful tool for driving health care improvement worldwide.

In recognition of his ground-breaking contributions utilizing the Internet to improve healthcare, he was named a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians in London in 2015.

KEYNOTE:
DR NIGEL LYONS, DEPUTY SECRETARY, HEALTH SYSTEM STRATEGY

BIOGRAPHY:
Dr Nigel Lyons has over 30 years’ experience in the NSW Health system as a clinician, manager and executive. He is the Deputy Secretary, Health System Strategy and Planning at the NSW Ministry of Health where he is responsible for strategic health policy development, inter-jurisdictional negotiations and funding strategies, system-wide planning of health services including mental health and setting the direction for child and family health policy.

He has also held other executive roles in the NSW Ministry of Health and NSW Health Services including Chief Executive of the NSW Agency for Clinical Innovation and Chief Executive of Hunter New England Area Health Service.

Dr Lyons has been actively involved during his career in many other roles which demonstrate a commitment to postgraduate education, rural health and clinical service improvement at regional, state and national level. He has held a number of Board appointments relating to these areas during his career.

PANEL HOST:
ELLEN FANNING, ABC

BIOGRAPHY:
In her 20 years as an award winning public affairs journalist, Ellen Fanning has interviewed every Australian Prime Minister from Sir John Grey Gorton to Malcolm Turnbull.

Ellen currently co-presents ABC TV’s "The Drum" and is regularly seen and heard on ABC TV’s 730 and on ABC Radio around Australia.

Previous experience Ellen has reported politics from Canberra to the White House while her broader career has taken her to locations as diverse as the North Pole, an airline refueling fighter jets over Bosnia and a Collins Class submarine deep in the Indian Ocean.

She spent the first ten years of her career at the ABC where she presented both the AM and PM current affairs radio programs.

She also served as the ABC’s Washington correspondent. She was later a reporter on the Nine Network’s 60 Minutes and the last presenter of Nine’s Sunday program.

PANELIST:
DANIEL HUNTER, DEPUTY SECRETARY, FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT AND ASSETS

BIOGRAPHY:
Dan’s career has spanned finance and operational leadership roles, gained across both the private and public sector. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce majoring in Commercial Law from the University of Auckland, Master’s degree in Accounting from Griffith University. Dan was employed for five years with the Intercontinental Hotels Group where he reached the level of Regional Financial Controller. He then joined Channel Seven’s Pacific Magazines, where he was promoted to Company Financial Controller, gaining expertise in contract negotiation, commercial feasibilities, due diligence processes and change management.

Dan joined Sydney Water in 2006 where he worked on high level projects, including a $2.3 billion project to privately refinance the Sydney Desalination Plant.

He then lead Sydney Water’s Human Resources function as General Manager People, Leadership and Culture, and was appointed in July 2014 to General Manager Transformation to deliver the corporate strategy in the areas of efficiency, IT, people and process, safety, industrial relations reform, culture and customer.

In June 2015 Dan became Chief Executive of HealthShare NSW, the services delivery arm of NSW Health.

In September 2018 Dan was appointed to the position of Deputy Secretary Finance and Asset Management and Chief Financial Officer, NSW Health where he manages a $25 billion budget.

PANELIST:
A/PROFESSOR RODERICK CLIFTON-BLIGH, ENDOCRINOLOGIST, ROYAL NORTH SHORE HOSPITAL, NORTHERN SYDNEY LHD

BIOGRAPHY:
A/Prof Roderick Clifton-Bligh is Head of the Department of Endocrinology at Royal North Shore Hospital, and conjoint associate professor in Medicine at the University of Sydney. He completed a PhD in the genetics of thyroid disorders at the University of Cambridge. He now supervises dual research groups, one of which focuses on the genetics of endocrine neoplasms, and the other on metabolic bone disease.

The Cancer Genetics Unit studies the molecular bases of thyroid cancer, phaechromocytoma/paraganglioma syndromes, adrenal cancer, and pituitary neoplasms. The Metabolic Bone Research Unit studies calcium-sensing receptor gene mutations and FGF23 biology.

His scope of clinical practice remains broad. He has co-supervised 10 completed PhDs, including five Endocrinologists. He maintains a strong involvement in teaching and mentoring young physicians.

CONCURRENT SESSION SPEAKER:
VANESSA NUBE, DIRECTOR PODIATRY, SYDNEY LOCAL HEALTH DISTRICT
BIOGRAPHY:
A registered podiatrist for 27 years. Masters of Science in Medicine 2006 with the focus of research being diabetic foot disease. Diplomas of Management and Project Management

Director of the Podiatry Service for Sydney Local Health District and working as a clinical podiatrist in SLHD and the RPAH Diabetes Centre High Risk Foot Service.

A member of the ACI Endocrine Network and Co-chair of the Diabetes Foot Working Group, having been instrumental in development of the ACI Standards for High Risk Foot Services. A member of the National Association of Diabetes Centres Interdisciplinary Diabetes High Risk Foot Services standards development working group and accreditation panel.

CONCURRENT SPEAKER:
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR TARA MACKENZIE, THORACIC PHYSICIAN, MURRUMBIDGEE LOCAL HEALTH DISTRICT 

BIOGRAPHY:
A/Prof Tara Mackenzie is a consultant respiratory physician currently working in Wagga Wagga, where she has been for the past 12 years, having previously been a Staff Specialist and Network Director of Physician Training at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital. She is the Principal Respiratory Physician of the Riverina Respiratory and Sleep Centre.

A/Prof Mackenzie has been a visiting medical officer for MLHD since 2007, having been a registrar at Wagga Base hospital in 2000, 2001 and 2004. During this time she has developed a love and deep respect for the region and its people. It is very important that patients in our regional and rural areas have access to the same quality health care seen in our metropolitan regions.

A/Prof Mackenzie has a passion for medical education, and completed a Masters in Medical Education in 2007. She has conjoint A/Professor appointments at UNSW and UND. She has held various supervisor and educational hospital roles over the past 15 years.

She is currently a Director of Physician Education representative on the HETI Physician Training Council, and is the Chair of the RACP Specialty Training Committee in Respiratory and Sleep Medicine. She has been a member of the National Examining Panel for the RACP since 2007.

A/Prof Mackenzie has a strong commitment to regional and rural patients’ wellbeing, and considers it a true privilege to be involved in their care. She has enjoyed working with an amazing team of professionals on this project that has resulted in improved health and wellbeing for our patients.

CONCURRENT SPEAKER:
VICKI ROSE, DIRECTOR, INTEGRATED CARE, NORTHERN NSW LOCAL HEALTH DISTRICT

BIOGRAPHY:
Vicki Rose has a long history working across a range of government agencies including FACS, Division of General Practice, National Health Service ( NHS UK) and Health.

She commenced her professional career as a Social Worker,working in health in NSW, South Australia and England.Vickie held a senior project and management position in the area of child protection, aged and chronic care. She currently hold the position of Director Integrated Care / Allied Health, NNSWLHD. This role has carriage for 2 key MOH initiatives: Integrated Care and Leading Better Value Care. Professional lead for Allied Health across the LHD with responsibility for workforce develop, professional and strategic capacity building.

Academic qualifications: Bachelor Arts, Bachelor Social Administration and Master of Business Administration.

CONCURRENT SPEAKER:
TIM SINCLAIR, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS, SYDNEY LOCAL HEALTH DISTRICT

BIOGRAPHY:
Tim is currently the Executive Director of Operations, Sydney Local Health District SLHD. He holds a Doctor of Business Adminstration, a Masters in Health Services Management and a Bachelor of Applied Science (Health Information Management) Tim was the Chief Operating Officer at the Alfred Health Service, Melbourne and has also served as the General Manager of COncord Repatriation General Hospital and Balmain Hospital.

He has previously held a number of other senior positions with the then Sydney South West Area Health Service including the Associate Director of Clinical Operations and the Manager, Operational Initiatives. Tim also successfully completed the Graduate Health Manaement Training Program. He is also a Director on the ANZAC Health and Medical Research Foundation. In 2013 Tim was also the recipient of the Institute of Public Administration Australia award for individual Excellence and the Anthea Kerr Award.

He also has an interest in research and has published in a number of internationally renowned journals focusing on strategies to improve the quality of care for individuals with osteoarthritis.

CONCURRENT SPEAKER:
JENNY PARKIN, DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS, NORTHERN SYDNEY LOCAL HEALTH DISTRICT

BIOGRAPHY:
Jennifer Parkin is Operations Director and Leading Better Value Care lead for Northern Sydney Local Health District. Jennifer combines senior operational experience with a background in service improvement.

She started her career in the UK completing the NHS Management training scheme and gaining operational management experience. She moved to Australia in 2009 taking on the role of Service Director for Perioperative and Critical Care at the Cairns and Hinterland Local Health District. At the NSW Agency for Clinical Innovation Jennifer supported NSW Health organisations to use redesign and quality improvement methodologies.

Jennifer taught healthcare improvement methodologies and applied them to state-wide projects, coaching and upskilling local managers and clinicians.

PANELIST:
PROFESSOR JOSEPHINE CHOW, DIRECTOR, STRATEGY AND PARTNERSHIPS, SOUTH WESTERN SYDNEY LHD

BIOGRAPHY:
Professor Josephine Chow is the Director of Strategy and Partnerships and leads the South Western Sydney Local Health District Clinical Innovation & Business Unit. She manages a team of staff in supporting a large number of innovations, major contracts/tenders and model of care redesign. She is the program lead for the SWSLHD LBVC initiatives. Josephine is also the Co-Director of the Renal Clinical Research Centre in Liverpool Hospital and is very active in both clinical trials and clinical research. She is the CI for an international multicentre clinician initiated trial and successfully receive $2.38M NHMRC (Australia) and $1.43M HRC (New Zealand) grants in 2019.

Josephine also contributes to academic activities with the number of publications in local and international journals and has supervised a number of post graduate and PhD students in nursing, psychology and management degrees. Josephine was awarded the prestigious Winston Churchill Fellowship Award in 2012 and travelled overseas in 2013 to investigate strategies for improving the uptake of home-based dialysis therapies.

PANELIST:
LIZ HAY, ECONOMICS AND ANALYTICS, STATEGIC REFORM AND PLANNING BRANCH

BIOGRAPHY:
Liz is an economist with nearly 25 years experience in the Australian Health system. Liz is currently the Director of the Economics and Analysis Unit in NSW MoH and has previously headed up the Evaluation and Economics function at the NSW Agency for Clinical Innovation.

Prior to that Liz had several inter- government relations roles in both QLD and NSW Health and has also worked at the Northern NSW Local Health District. Liz's areas of expertise include economics; health policy, funding and reform; evaluation and measurement; analytics and the use of data as well as inter and intra government relations.

In Liz's current role she oversees the economics, evaluation and measurement of various value based health care initiatives as well as a broader role in shaping NSW Health's approach to economics and measurement.

PANELIST:
MARTHA PARSONS, DIABETES ALLIANCE PROGRAM MANAGER, HUNTER NEW ENGLAND LOCAL HEALTH DISTRICT DIABETES STREAM COORDINATOR

BIOGRAPHY:
Martha Parsons is the Program Manager for the Diabetes Alliance Initiative. This initiative has led to respectful, efficient and effective integration of clinicians and administrators from both the private and public sector across tertiary, secondary and primary care services.

Martha has shared her time over the last 9 years between being a midwife at John Hunter Hospital and supporting Innovation projects for the Research, Innovation and Partnership Unit for Hunter New England Local Health District.

She has a passion for designing collaborative solutions to everyday problems faced by colleagues and patients with a goal of making the experience of both providing and receiving health care a positive one.

Martha is a registered, practicing nurse and midwife who has qualifications and extensive experience in project management as well as a Master Degree in Health Policy. Previous to this role, Martha worked as a Co-Ordinator of HealthPathways for Hunter Medicare Local from the program’s inception in 2013.

PANELIST:
DR BRETT LYNHAM, GP, NCPHN

BIOGRAPHY:
Dr Brett Lynam is a GP Clinical adviser for the North Coast Primary Health Network (NCPHN) which stretches from the Queensland border to Port Macquarie and west to the Great Dividing Range. He is also in General Practice in Tweed Heads - some 300 metres from the Queensland border.

Brett trained at The University of Queensland and trained and worked for a number of years in rural practice including work at remote aboriginal communities. He completed his FRACGP and DRANZOG during this time. He moved for family reasons with his children and Irish wife to Ireland for 12 years in the early 2000’2.

Whilst in Ireland he was admitted as an MICGP and worked as a Senior Medical Officer in the Irish Health Service working in Community Integrated Care and Immunisation. He completed his Masters principally in Public Health and for a time was a University Associate Lecturer at the Royal College of Surgeons in Dublin.

Since returning to Australia Brett has involved himself in work at the NCPHN specifically in areas of integration and immunisation. His passion for integration extends to projects that involve primary, secondary and tertiary care and a range of clinicians including GP’s Specialists and Allied Health Professionals with the aim of improving patient care.

He has also been involved in improving cross-border medical communication between NSW and Qld Health Services which particularly affects patients and clinicians in Northern NSW and the Gold Coast.
When not practicing medicine he can be found on his bicycle enjoying the beauty of the border ranges.

PANELIST:
DAMIEN LIMBERGER, GP AND EXECUTIVE CLINICAL DIRECTOR, GRIFFITH BASE HOSPITAL, MURRUMBIDGEE LOCAL HEALTH DISTRICT

BIOGRAPHY:
Dr Damien Limberger is a rural GP Obstetrician working in Griffith, New South Wales. He is the Executive Clinical Director at Griffith Base Hospital and Director of Post Graduate Education and Training for the Murrumbidgee Local Health District. He provides primary care services as a general practitioner in the Griffith community.

He graduated through the University of New South Wales Wagga Wagga Rural Clinical School and is Director of Medical Education at the University of New South Wales Griffith Rural Clinical School. Dr Limberger has an interest in undergraduate and postgraduate medical education. He is interested in rural medicine and quality systems in healthcare.

PANEL HOST:
DR TRACEY TAY, CLINICAL EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR CATALYST

BIOGRAPHY:
Tracey is the Clinical Executive Director for the CATALYST (Care Across the Lifecycle and Society) directorate at the NSW Agency for Clinical Innovation. She is also a senior staff anaesthetist at John Hunter Hospital in Newcastle where she was previously the Director of the Perioperative Service. Prior to that she was the Clinical Lead at the ACI for 4 years. Between 2008 and 2016,

Tracey was also the Clinical Lead for the Research, Innovation and Partnerships Unit in Hunter New England and participated in many new initiatives such as the introduction of HealthPathways and the Hunter Alliance. Other work has involved the development of health technology assessment capability in the Hunter New England Central Coast research hub area.

Tracey’s other interests are in promoting good mental health for clinicians through the development of a national toolkit and in returning disabled clinicians to meaningful work through her project with severely injured doctors.

CONCURRENT SESSION AND PANELIST:
DR MING LOH, VMO GERIATRICIAN, NORTHERN BEACHES HOSPITAL

BIOGRAPHY:
Ming Loh is a Geriatrician at Northern Beaches Hospital in Sydney and a Clinical Lecturer at the University of Sydney. Ming received his FRACP and qualification as a Geriatrician during his tenure at Westmead Hospital and was a member of the Western Sydney LHD Future Leaders Program.

He has expertise in Perioperative care of the elderly and is a committee member of the Perioperative Medicine Steering Committee (Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists) and the Collaborating Hospitals’ Audit of Surgical Mortality Committee (Clinical Excellence Commission).

Ming has worked with the Agency for Clinical Innovation on several projects and is the Co-chair of the Leading Better Value Care Hip Fracture project and Integrated Surgical Care Project. He has recently joined the Value Based Healthcare Steering Committee.

Ming is a federal councillor for the Australian and New Zealand Society for Geriatric Medicine and is the Royal Australian College of Physicians representative on the national Perioperative Steering Committee (ANZCA). Ming is currently co-ordinating greater co-operation between surgeons, anaesthetists and physicians in improving the safety of elderly patients undergoing surgery.

KEYNOTE:
JEAN-FREDERICK LEVESQUE, CHIEF EXECUTIVE, AGENCY FOR CLINICAL INNOVATION

BIOGRAPHY:
Dr Jean-Frédéric Levesque joined the NSW Agency for Clinical Innovation as Chief Executive in June 2017. He was previously Chief Executive of the Bureau of Health Information for four years.

Dr Levesque brings to the ACI leadership in healthcare system analysis and improvement, combining experience in clinical practice in refugee health and tropical medicine, in clinical governance and in academic research. He is a member of the Strategic Analytic Advisory Committee of the Canadian Institute of Health Information and a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Canada in Preventive Medicine and Public Health. He has held senior positions responsible for publicly reporting information about the Canadian health system at the Institut National de Santé Publique du Québec and the Commissaire a la santé et au bien-etre du Québec.

Dr Levesque has a Doctorate in Public Health, a Masters in Community Health and a medical degree from the Université de Montréal, Canada. He is a Conjoint Professor at the Centre for Primary Health Care and Equity of the University of New South Wales. His research focuses on how different models of care impact on patient outcomes and experiences of care. In 2011-12, he was a Visiting Academic at the University of Melbourne.

PANEL HOST:
MALCOM GREEN, SENIOR MANAGER, ADULT PATIENT SAFETY PROGRAM, CLINICAL EXCELLENCE

BIOGRAPHY:
Following the completion of a Master of Nursing in Critical Care, Malcolm went on to a variety of roles in Intensive Care across the NSW Public Health System and NHS England. His seemingly conflicting interests of resuscitation and organ donation have seen him work for both the Australian Resuscitation Council and the NSW Organ and Tissue Donation Service and he is a National Board Member of the Australian College of Critical Care Nurses.

Malcolm is a member of the International Society for Rapid Response Systems and has a broad interest in using predictive analytics and electronic clinical decision support tools to recognise and respond to deteriorating patients.

Malcolm joined the NSW Clinical Excellence Commission in 2012, where his is the Senior Manager, Adult Patient Safety Program leading state wide initiatives to improve the early recognition and response to deteriorating patients, sepsis and the prevention of harm from falls and pressure injuries in the NSW Public Health System.

Malcolm undertook the Institute for Healthcare Improvement year-long Improvement Advisor Program graduating in September 2017 and continues to teach Quality Improvement Science at a local and national level.

KEYNOTE:
SARAH DALTONE, CLINICAL EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, PRISM

BIOGRAPHY:
Dr Sarah Dalton is a Paediatric Emergency Physician at The Children's Hospital at Westmead and recently completed her role as President of the Paediatric and Child Health Division of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians. Sarah has worked in different clinical and managerial roles across NSW over the last 20 years, from regional centres to specialist tertiary units and from community care to acute care retrieval services.

Sarah has previously completed a Fulbright Scholarship in Clinical Leadership and her prior roles include Clinical Director at the NSW Clinical Excellence Commission. Sarah is committed to improving the quality of healthcare through working with clinicians who deeply understand how healthcare is delivered and recognise opportunities for change.

PANELIST:
SARAH BUCKLEY, RESPIRATORY CNC, MID NORTH COAST LHD

BIOGRAPHY:
Sarah Buckley’s nursing career has span 22 years, during which she has practiced in a variety of settings including; metropolitan, regional, rural and remote across New South Wales, enabling her to developed a firm understanding of the differing challenges in providing health care within these environments.

Her current role as the respiratory Clinical Nurse Consultant at the Port Macquarie Base Hospital encompasses aspects of both acute and chronic respiratory disease management and sees her involvement in service development and planning at her Base Hospital, as well as in Network and District projects.

Sarah is a change lead for the Leading Better Value Care, Unwarranted Clinical Variation COPD Clinical Initiative for the Mid North Coast Local Health District. In this role Sarah has led local evaluation and service redevelopment, partnering with the Agency for Clinical Innovation on several projects, including most recently an experience based co-design research project aimed reducing inappropriate use of oxygen delivered to COPD patients in the acute hospital setting.

Sarah enjoys the leadership role working within the multidisciplinary team to improve the experiences and outcomes of patients experiencing respiratory disease through innovation and excellence in healthcare.