HIQA - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Chief Executive
- Member of the Executive Management Team
- Member of the Management Team
Angela Fitzgerald was appointed Chief Executive of HIQA in March 2022. Prior to this appointment, she served as Deputy National Director, Acute Operations in the Health Service Executive.
Angela has 27 years of wide-ranging experience in senior management in the health sector, with extensive experience of driving change and quality improvements. In addition to the development and implementation of hospital policy in the Department of Health, she led major national change processes in the HSE in a range of areas, such as hospital emergency services, the National Care Experience Programme and the National Transplant Services.
Angela previously served as Regional Director for Performance and Integration for Dublin North East where she was accountable for all aspects of service delivery across all hospital and community services in the region service over 1.5 million people. She was also responsible for day-to-day operations in St James' Hospital for over four years, delivering results across the key domains of safety, access and financial management.
Throughout her career, Angela has advised Government Ministers and Cabinet directly on strategy, policy and patient safety issues including the implementation of recommendations from the HIQA investigation into Midlands Regional Hospital Portlaoise, the HSE response to the Independent Audit of Cervical Check, and the use and oversight of private hospitals to support access to care particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.
She has also represented the healthcare delivery system on major national strategic planning and policy exercises including the Bed Capacity Review, HSE Trauma Implementation Group, the National Patient Advocacy Advisory Forum, and Voluntary Collaborative Forum. These roles have sought to look at optimising current service delivery, and how services are organised and delivered to meet future requirements.
Angela holds a Masters Degree in Health Economics and has lectured on comparative health policy in healthcare postgraduate programmes.
Job Titles:
- Chief Information Officer
- Member of the Executive Management Team
- Member of the Management Team
Bala was appointed as Chief Information Officer in January 2018. He has 28 years of Technology leadership experience in Banking and Financial services, Consultancy, Manufacturing and Health. Bala has attained MSc in strategic quality management from University of Limerick and M.B.A from Dublin City University.
Job Titles:
- Chartered Director
- Member of the Board
- Board Members
Bernadette is a Chartered Director, a Chartered Accountant and holds a Bachelor of Commerce and Higher Diploma in Education from National University of Ireland, Galway.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Executive Management Team
- Member of the Management Team
- Chief Inspector of Social Services
Carol Grogan is HIQA's Chief Inspector of Social Services and has worked in HIQA since 2009.
She qualified as a registered general nurse with a post-registration qualification in gerontological nursing. During her career, Carol has attained additional qualifications in BSc Nursing Management from University College Dublin, MBA in Health Services Management through the Smurfit Business School at University College Dublin, Advanced Diploma in Corporate White Collar & Regulatory Crime from Kings Inns, and Postgraduate Diploma in Business (Leadership Development) from National University of Ireland Galway.
Carol has significant experience in the regulation of adult social care services and its management. She has extensive experience in practice development and health and social care services. She has also worked in senior management positions in a number of organisations.
Carol's areas of interest are improving regulatory practice, governance and the human rights, and quality of the lived experience of adults and children who use social care services.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Chief Executive Officer of IoD Ireland
Caroline Spillane CDir is Chief Executive Officer of IoD Ireland. She commenced the role in July 2022. Caroline has held several senior leadership roles including most recently as Director General of Engineers Ireland, the all-Ireland professional body for engineers, CEO of the Medical Council of Ireland, the independent statutory regulator of over 20,000 medical practitioners and Assistant National Director of the Health Services Executive.
Caroline is an experienced Non-Executive Director serving as a board member of the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA), ESB Networks and Irish Manufacturing Research. She is also a member of the 30% Club, a campaign which is led by a group of business Chairpersons and CEOs taking action to increase gender diversity on boards and senior management teams.
She is a Chartered Director, holds a master's degree from the Technological University of Dublin, a bachelor's degree from University College Cork and is currently undertaking a Doctorate of Business Administration with the South East Technological University.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Board Member of the South Eastern Regional College
- Board Members
Danny McConnell leads the technology consulting practice in Deloitte in Northern Ireland, and has over 25 years' experience working with clients across the UK public sector focusing on data and digital transformation.
He is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance & Accountancy, has a Bachelor of Science in chemistry from Queens University, a Masters in business administration from Ulster University and a PhD from Loughborough University, London.
Danny is currently a board member of the South Eastern Regional College and was previously a board member of Helm Housing Association and Radius Housing Association.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Board Members
- Consultant in Public Health Medicine
Dr Cliodhna Foley-Nolan is a consultant in Public Health Medicine. She has worked as Director of Human Health and Nutrition at safefood (Food Safety Promotion Board) and as Specialist in Public Health Medicine in the Health Service Executive.
She has served on a number of national advisory groups, including the National AIDS Advisory Group, as well as advisory groups on MRSA, immigrant health, food poverty, and antimicrobial resistance. She is currently a member of the Food Safety Authority Board and has served on the Boards of the Veterinary Council of Ireland; Special Advisory Board on Obesity; the Faculty of Public Health Medicine of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland and the Health Research Board Centre for Health and Diet Research.
Job Titles:
- CMO
- Member of the Board
- Board Members
Dr Jim Kiely is a graduate of UCD Medical School. He was awarded his postgraduate specialist qualification in Public Health by the RCPI and holds an MBA from the University of Limerick. Jim spent his professional career in various roles in the public health service most notably in the Department of Health where he spent eleven years as Chief Medical Officer (CMO).He also spent a period of time as Health Policy Adviser with the Irish Aid health programme.
As CMO, Jim led the Department of Health's delegation to the World Health Assembly on many occasions and was a member of, and chaired, the Standing Committee of the WHO Regional Office in Copenhagen. He also represented the Department at EU and Council of Europe health fora. He is former Vice Chair of the Board of Tallaght University Hospital where he served on and chaired a number of the Boards committees.
Dr Kiely has been on the Board of HIQA since 2017 where he has served on a number of the Board committees and currently chairs the Regulation Committee.
Job Titles:
- Deputy Chief Executive
- Member of the Executive Management Team
- Member of the Management Team
- Deputy Chief Executive and Director of Health Technology Assessment
Máirín was appointed Deputy Chief Executive in September 2014. She joined HIQA as Director of Health Technology Assessment (HTA) in September 2007.
Prior to this appointment, Máirín was the Chief 1 Pharmacist at the National Centre for Pharmacoeconomics and previously a senior clinical pharmacist at St James's Hospital in Dublin with responsibility for HIV clinical pharmacy services. She is an Assistant Professor in Pharmacoeconomics at Trinity College and contributes to a number of graduate and postgraduate courses across a range of institutions. She holds a doctorate from Trinity College Dublin as well as postgraduate qualifications in Health Economics and Clinical Pharmacy. Her research interests include: cost data generation in the Irish setting, determinants of health policy decision-making in Ireland, and economic evaluation of HIV interventions in the African setting.
She and her team are responsible for conducting assessments of health technologies including drugs, devices, diagnostics and public health programs. The assessments help inform safe and effective health policy and health service decisions which are patient-centred and deliver value. The team conducts health technology assessments of national screening programmes to inform the work of the National Screening Advisory Committee. In addition, the Directorate supports the development of HTA capacity and capability through the Irish health service and the incorporation of HTA methodologies into decision-making.
HIQA provides evidence synthesis and evidence informed advice to support the work of the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) and other groups involved in the national response to COVID-19. Máirín is a member of NPHET.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Board Members
Dr Paula Kilbane CBE trained in London in public health medicine and subsequently held two consultant posts there. On her return to Northern Ireland in 1986, she became a director of public health. Paula served as CEO of the Southern and then the Eastern Health and Social Services Board in Belfast from 1993 until her retirement in 2009.
Following her relocation to Dublin, Paula chaired the Corporate Risk Committee of the Health Service Executive (HSE) from 2011-2013. She is currently a member of the Boards of CES (Centre for Effective Services) and CMRF (Children's Medical and Research Foundation). Paula is also a Director of Grafton Recruitment in Ireland and Europe.
Her professional interests include quality and patient safety, health information systems and health technology assessment, HIV and AIDS. In addition to her extensive UK experience in health and social care, Paula has served on a number of all-island bodies and in other sectors outside of healthcare, including European funding bodies and the Northern Ireland Higher Education Council. A graduate of Queen's University Belfast, she is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians (UK) and a Fellow of the Faculty of Public Health (UK and Ireland).
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Board Members
- Member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development
Lynsey Perdisatt, B.A., PgDip (Business Studies), M.B.S. (HR Strategies) is a senior HR professional having worked in roles in both the private and public sector, gaining significant experience in employee relations, industrial relations and change management.
Prior to her appointment as Director of Human Resources and Change with the Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA), she held the role of HR Manager in the HPRA/IMB and previous to that, the role of Senior HR Business Partner for Arnotts PLC. In her current role as Director of Human Resources and Change, Lynsey is responsible for the development and delivery of Human Resources and Change strategy, the design and implementation of HR solutions and the effective management of change projects that provide for the availability, effective use and engagement of human resources within the HPRA.
Lynsey is a member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development (CIPD), is an accredited workplace mediator via the Mediators Institute of Ireland (MII) and a panel member of the Civil and Public Service Mediation Service (CPSMS). Lynsey also holds a Level 7 Advanced Award in Organisation Design and Development, is an ICAGILE Certified Professional in Agile Talent and a qualified conflict Coach.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Board Members
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Board Members
Martin Higgins was Chief Executive of safefood, one of the cross-border bodies set up under the Good Friday Agreement, for 14 years until his retirement. Prior to that, he worked in the Department of Health for many years specialising in finance, and later in public health regulation.
He is an experienced board member having served on the boards of the Irish Medicines Board, the health and social care professionals regulator Coru, and the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland. He is currently chair of the board of the Food Safety Authority of Ireland.
Martin has a keen interest in governance and is former chair of the audit and risk committees of both COMREG and An Bord Pleanála. He is currently a member of the Health Research Board's audit and risk committee.
A professional accountant with additional qualifications in governance, regulation and health economics, Martin is member of the Institute of Directors and a Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Board Members
Martin O'Halloran was chief executive of the Health and Safety Authority for 11 years until his retirement in 2018. He worked in the Telecommunication industry in Ireland and the UK for more than 20 years. He is an experienced director, having served as chairman of the Board of the Institute for Public Administration for four years and chairman of the Association of Chief Executives for three years. He has served on a number of other boards in the private sector, as well as a number of European committees in occupational safety and health.
He is a Chartered Director, Chartered Fellow of the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health and an executive coach.
He is also a member of the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) and the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal (LPDT) and a member of the national Patient Safety Council.
He holds degrees from Universities of London, Trinity College Dublin, University of Surrey and University of Strathclyde.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Executive Management Team
- Member of the Management Team
- Head of Communications and Stakeholder Engagement
Marty was appointed as HIQA's Head of Communications and Stakeholder Engagement in 2007.
He leads the organisation's Communications and Stakeholder Engagement Team and is responsible for the strategic and operational management of HIQA's communications with stakeholder including people using services and the public, providers of services and staff working in services, political representatives, the media, and HIQA's own staff.
Marty is a graduate of Trinity College Dublin and has many years of experience working in communications. He previously worked in a number of communication roles across the public and private sector.
Job Titles:
- Chairman
- Member of the Board
- Board Members
- Chairman of the Management Board of the European Medicines Agency
Prof Pat O'Mahony is the Chairperson of HIQA's Board. Prof O'Mahony has been Chief Executive of Clinical Research Development Ireland since 2017, a partnership of academic institutions and clinical research facilities that aim to translate biomedical research into improved diagnostics, therapies and devices for patients.
Previously, Prof O'Mahony has served as Chairman of the Management Board of the European Medicines Agency, and was Deputy Secretary General and Head of Governance and Performance at the Department of Health. He is also the former Chief Executive of the Health Products Regulatory Authority.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Board Members
Michael Rigby has extensive experience in health service development and delivery, and in research into health policy and management. Particular areas of interest have been preventive services, child health, mental health, and integrated care.
Prof. Rigby has held professorial posts in the UK, Ireland, and Sweden. He has undertaken projects with the WHO, European Commission, OECD, and European Science Foundation. He has written extensively on health research and policy, and (co)edited a number of books, most recently on Evidence Based Health Informatics and on Primary Health Care for Children in Europe, and is a member of the Roster of Experts appointed to support the new WHO Digital Health Technical Advisory Group.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Executive Management Team
- Member of the Management Team
- Director of Health Information and Standards and Director of the National Care Experience Programme
Rachel was appointed as HIQA's Director of Health Information and Standards and Director of the National Care Experience Programme in September 2015. She joined HIQA in November 2007 and has held various positions such as the Health Information Manager in Quality and the Head of Healthcare Assurance Programmes in Healthcare Regulation.
She and her team are responsible for setting national standards for health and social care services which are approved by the Minister for Health. This involves developing person-centred standards, based on evidence and - international best practice. National standards are used to drive improvements in services and also support HIQA's monitoring and regulatory activities.
She has executive responsibility for the National Care Experience Programme which drives improvements in our health and social care services by understanding service user experience. This is a partnership with the Department of Health and the Health Service Executive. The programme runs a number of national surveys, such the National Inpatient Experience Survey and National Maternity Experience Survey, with more surveys under development.
She is also responsible for health information, as set out in the Health Act. Her remit is to identify deficiencies in Ireland's eHealth landscape and develop national recommendations to improve eHealth. She and her team are responsible for setting standards for national data collections and reporting compliance against these national standards by evaluating the quality of the information available and making recommendations to improve the quality and filling in gaps where information is needed but is not currently available.
Job Titles:
- Assistant National Director for Disability Strategy
Retired HSE Assistant National Director for Disability Strategy and Planning. Almost 30 years' experience working in health services, initially as an Occupational Therapist providing services to older people in acute hospitals, before providing general community occupational therapy services. She later became a manager of local disability services and then National Planner of Disability Services.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Executive Management Team
- Member of the Management Team
- Acting Chief Operating Officer
Sean joined HIQA in 2007 heading up the corporate services function responsible for finance, human resources, ICT and facilities. He has extensive experience in management of corporate services and finance in a range of organisations in the private, voluntary and public sectors.
From Newmarket, Co. Cork he worked in Britain for many years and moved back to Ireland as Finance Director of Cork 2005, which delivered the programme for the city's tenure as European Capital of Culture. Sean is a certified accountant, with a degree in Commerce and holds an M.Sc. in Management.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Executive Management Team
- Member of the Management Team
- Director of Healthcare Regulation
Sean has over 20 years' experience in working to improve the quality and safety of healthcare for patients, either through healthcare provision or research in the acute setting, or in more recent years through the monitoring and regulation of healthcare services with HIQA.
A Clinical Pharmacist by training and profession, Sean holds graduate and postgraduate qualifications in Clinical Pharmacy (MPharm and MSc) from the University of Nottingham and Trinity College Dublin, Leadership and Quality in Healthcare (HDip) from the RCPI, and Management and Corporate Governance (MSc) from the University of Ulster. He has a keen interest in healthcare quality improvement science and is certified in Lean Six Sigma.
Over the past eight years, Sean has fulfilled management and leadership positions within HIQA to advance the Authority's monitoring and regulatory role in the healthcare setting. Sean has led key areas of monitoring work including a focus on the areas of pre-hospital emergency care, infection prevention and control and antimicrobial stewardship, medicines safety, safe maternity care and a number of key governance assurance reviews into specific healthcare services following service failures. Sean also led on HIQA's commencement as the patient safety regulator and Competent Authority in the area of medical exposures to ionising radiation.