About Us

Gillian Bohm

Gillian is an experienced leader, policy developer and facilitator in the fields of quality improvement, patient safety and innovation. She has been at the forefront of many New Zealand quality initiatives during the past ten years, including the development of the initial New Zealand improving quality strategy, a national credentialling framework, national health and disability sector standards and the setup and implementation of the Health Quality & Safety Commission. The Commission has a wide range of programs targeting critical improvement opportunities in health care throughout New Zealand. These include advance care planning, medication safety, infection prevention and control, prevention of adverse events, health quality intelligence, consumer engagement and mortality review. Her work at the Commission has included a focus on developing knowledge and skills for clinical leadership, quality improvement science and patient safety methodologies and working with sector teams that are undertaking local or national improvement programs.

She works continually to improvement and service redesign actions. Gillian is committed to implementing the Commission’s strategic priority to improve health equity and Māori health advancement. She has a genuine and persistent commitment to excellence in healthcare and an unwavering belief that given the right knowledge, will and skill New Zealand’s health professionals and health and disability services can be world-class.

George Braitberg

George is a practicing emergency physician and toxicologist of 35 years. He is Head of the Emergency Medicine Stream for the Centre for Critical Care Medicine at the University of Melbourne and Executive Director of Strategy, Quality and Improvement at Melbourne Health. His fellowship includes the American College of Medical Toxicology, the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine (ACEM) and the Royal Australasian College of Medical Administrators. George has a Masters in Bioethics and Health Services Management (Monash University), and is a member of the Victorian Clinical Council, a Board member of St Johns Ambulance (Victoria) and Medical Advisor to Ambulance Victoria. His research interests include toxicology, pre-hospital care, clinical governance and health system redesign and the management of acute emergencies.

George is involved in the development of emergency medicine in Israel and has published over 70 peer reviewed papers and authored more than 20 book chapters. He was awarded the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine Service Award in 2018 and became a member of the Order of Australia (AM) in 2018 and an Officer of the Order of St John (OStJ) in 2019. He is also a proud grandfather of 5.

Rob Grenfell

Dr Rob Grenfell, a Public Health Physician, is the Special Advisor Health for the CSIRO. He was recently the Director of CSIRO’s Health and Biosecurity Business Unit. Leading a broad portfolio covering Nutrition, eHealth, Medtech and Diagnostics and Biosecurity. He has played a significant role in Australia’s response to COVID19, which he continues to do with CSIRO and the local Public Health Unit.

Rob has broad-ranging public health experience including; National Medical Director at BUPA Australia New Zealand, National Director Cardiovascular Health at the Heart Foundation, Strategic Health Advisor to Parks Victoria, Senior Medical Advisor at the Department of Health Victoria, and Physician in charge of travel health BHP General Practice – with considerable indigenous and rural experience.

He has held a broad range of advisory committees. Of note, he was a member of the Safety and Quality Outcomes Committee of the Hospital Innovation Reform Council, a member of the Victorian Quality Council, Chair of General Practice Victoria, and Member of the Health Advisory Committee of the National Health and Medical Research Council.

Geoffrey Hirst

Geoffrey Hirst has had a long and distinguished career as a clinician in the field of adult and paediatric urology and as an executive leader within his craft organisation. Between 1997 and 2012 he consecutively held senior executive positions at the Mater Hospitals, Brisbane. In these roles he devised and implemented strategic clinical change, developed new and challenging clinical services and drove fiscally responsible clinical performance. During his 10 years as Senior Risk Management Consultant at the Mater Hospitals he led the establishment of the now highly regarded Clinical Safety and Quality Unit (renamed Clinical Governance Unit). He facilitated the development of systems and structures to measure and enhance the quality and safety of patient outcomes, and established frameworks to improve clinician communication skills and clinician collegiate behaviours.

Geoffrey was appointed a non-Executive Director of the Mater Group Board in 2013, a position he held for nearly 7 years. He advocated for and became the inaugural Chair of two Board Committees, the Clinical Safety and Quality Committee and the Digital Governance Committee, He also served as a member of the Risk Management & Audit and Finance Committees. In 2016 Geoffrey was awarded an Order of Australia in recognition of ‘his significant service to medicine, particularly in the field of urology, as a clinician, and to medical education and administration’.

Frances Hughes

Since August 2019 Dr. Frances Hughes has held the position of General Manager of Nursing and Clinical Strategy at Oceania Healthcare Limited. In January 2020 she was recognised for her services to mental health and nursing as a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for the second time. She has also been the Executive Director of Cutting Edge Oceania since 2018. Prior to this, for 2 years, she held the position of the CEO of the International Council of Nursing (ICN) in Geneva Switzerland. She was appointed to transform the organisation post review by PWC. In two years she successfully increased the financial viability of the organisation, instituted and implemented systems process and managed successful delivery of the largest nursing congress in the history of ICN.

In 2012 – 2016 Dr. Hughes was the Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer for the Department of Health, Queensland Australia. Prior to moving to Australia she held position in Mental Health in MOH Nursing and Chair of MH Nursing for Auckland University from 2004 – 2006. Frances has extensive knowledge and networks in relation to health policy, particularly in the field of nursing and mental health, research and global health issues. Frances held the position, Chief Nurse for New Zealand, for 8 years and during this time played a major leadership role in health care policy and nursing. In 2001 she was the first nurse to be awarded the Harkness Fellowship in Health Care Policy (US equivalent to Rhode Scholar) from the Commonwealth Fund in New York. Frances was awarded a Senior Fulbright in 2013 and studied the resilience of health systems at times of natural disasters. She has received an ONZM and distinguished alumni awards from both Massey University and UTS Sydney in recognition of her leadership. Frances served as the Commandant Colonel for the Royal New Zealand Nursing Corp for 7 years, providing strategic nursing leadership to the New Zealand Army.

Cheryle Royle

Cheryle has an extensive background in healthcare management, having been the CEO of a number of hospitals in Victoria, and prior to retiring/semi retiring was the CEO of St Vincent’s Hospital Brisbane. As a previous Nurse and Midwife, Cheryle progressed through the leadership ladder from Director of Nursing to being a CEO of both single and multiple hospital sites. Her achievements include being a previous winner of the Telstra Businesswoman’s Award (VIC) for the private sector with more than 100 employees and represented Victoria as a national finalist that year.

Cheryle is a passionate advocate for Safety & Quality in Healthcare and was invited to join the Board of The Australian Commission for Safety & Quality in Healthcare where her term of five years being completed in 2019. During that time, she was a member of the National Model Clinical Governance Advisory Panel for the Commission. In addition, she is currently an active Board member and served on other Boards throughout her career. Cheryle brings a broad knowledge and experience to the AICG and to the broader healthcare agenda. She is a passionate advocate for quality care in hospitals and healthcare in general.

Diane Walsh

Diane Walsh is an experienced health consumer and community representative at an NT and national level, with a background in teaching and over 20 years of governance experience in health organisations. She is motivated by a desire to create a safe and equitable health system that meets the needs of the community it serves. 

Ms Walsh serves in a number of consumer health roles including the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation, the TGA Advisory Committee on Vaccines, the NPS MedicinesWise Consumer Advisory Group and as a member of the RACGP Expert Committee - Standards.

Ms Walsh was a director of the NTPHN from 2012, and Chair from 2019-2021, Deputy Chair of the Top End Health Service Board from 2013 until 2017 and a community member of the NT Board of the Medical Board of Australia until 2016. 

Lynn Weekes

Lynn Weekes is a pharmacist and quality use of medicines expert. She originally trained as a pharmacist, doing her undergraduate degree at the University of Sydney and going on to practice in community, hospital, policy and research settings. She has a Masters in Pharmaceutics and a Doctorate in Community Medicine. Lynn was the founding CEO and Managing Director of NPS MedicineWise where she transitioned the company from a start-up with a focus on medicines to broader concerns about good decisions in health care. In this role, Lynn brought together a talented team of people to support the best use of medicines and medical tests – both by health professionals and patients. She was responsible for behavioural interventions that changed the ways doctors prescribe and order diagnostic tests. This led to documented improvements in the health of patients and in savings to the government of more than AUD $1 billion over 20 years.

Lynn is an adjunct professor at the University of Queensland. She is a Non-Executive Director of the Optometry Council of Australia and New Zealand and has of the Return of Unwanted Medicines. She is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and an alumnus of INSEAD Business School. Lynn has published more than 50 peer-reviewed papers and is currently working on a book about techniques for improving the use of medicines and medical tests in primary care. Lynn was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia in 2013.