Keynote speakers confirmed for iLINKS Innovations 2018

Dr Simon Bowers, General Practitioner in Liverpool and iLINKS Innovations conference chair.

Simon graduated from Liverpool Medical School in 1998 and trained in Mersey Deanery. He is a General Practitioner in Liverpool and has been Clinical Director for Digital Care and innovation at Liverpool CCG since 2013 and CCG Chair from July 17-June 18. A regular keynote at iLINKS since we started he is a passionate advocate for driving improvements for patients through the use of technology.

Harry Evans, Policy Researcher at The King's Fund.

Harry is a researcher in the King’s Fund policy team. He writes on health technologies and using patient data to improve care. He is also an author of a major forthcoming report on managing digital change in the NHS. Before joining the Fund in 2016, Harry worked for three years at Ipsos MORI’s Social Research Institute, where he conducted extensive research with the public about their attitudes towards health data and emerging health technologies.

Aidan Kehoe, Chief Executive of The Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS Trust.

Aidan is the Chief Executive at the Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen Hospitals Trust. Aidan is a Qualified Chartered Accountant having trained with KPMG in Birmingham.

Joe Rafferty, Chief Executive of Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust.

Prior to becoming Chief Executive of Mersey Care NHS Trust in 2012, Joe was Director of Commissioning Support at the NHS Commissioning Board, having national responsibility for the design and delivery of a significant component of the Liberating the NHS commissioning reforms.

Before this, Joe was seconded from his Chief Executive role at NHS Central Lancashire to become Director of Commissioning Development for NHS North West, leading the development of commissioning reforms across the region.

Other Board level roles included Chief Executive of NHS Central Lancashire, Regional Director of Commissioning & Strategy for NHS North West, Executive Director of Strategy for NHS North West, Executive Director of Performance in Cumbria & Lancashire SHA and Director of System Reform at Bolton Hospital NHS Trust.

He was recently named number 9 in the HSJ Top 50 Chief Executives Awards list and included in the HSJ’s list of 100 most influential people in health.

Joe has been championing Expert by Experience as a major driver for transformation.

Mel Pickup, Chief Executive at Warrington and Halton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

Mel Pickup was appointed as Chief Executive of the Trust in February 2011. Mel qualified as a Registered General Nurse in 1990. Mel has worked in a number of management and leadership roles across Yorkshire and the Northwest.

Mel was Chief Executive of The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust from January 2007 prior to her appointment with Warrington and Halton Hospitals NHS FT in 2011.

Mel is Chair of the NW Regional Emerging Leaders Group which amongst other things includes leadership and development work and overseeing the NHS Graduate Management Training Scheme across the North West.

In 2015 Mel was invited by Baroness Cumberledge to be the provider Chief Executive representative on The National Maternity Review.

David Jago, Acting Chief Executive of Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

David Jago joined Wirral University Teaching Hospital as Finance Director in June 2016, having formally worked as Deputy Chief Executive/Chief Finance Officer at Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital. In December 2017, David became Acting Chief Executive Officer.

As a keen advocate of the NHS, David has held a number of positions with Trusts across the North West and Wales; Director of Finance, Procurement and IM&T at Tameside Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Deputy Director of Finance at University Hospital South Manchester and Deputy Director of Finance at Conwy and Denbighshire NHS Trust.

During his time at the Trust, David has actively been involved in the collaboration with Cerner, ensuring the hospital, as a Digital Exemplar, leads the way in innovation and technology.

David is a member of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy and has a BA(Hons) degree in Economics.

Louise Shepherd, Chief Executive of Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust.

Louise joined Alder Hey as Chief Executive in March 2008 since when she has led it through a major transformation into Europe's only Children's Health Park, designed by and for children and young people and opened by HM The Queen in 2016.  The Park aims to provide a unique well being and healing environment for all children and young people and comprises a state of the art specialist children's hospital,  dedicated research and education facilities, an innovation centre, clinical research facility and family support and bereavement centre.

Previously CEO of Liverpool Women's Hospital, Louise first joined the NHS as Director of Business Development at Birmingham Heartlands Hospital in 1993 from KPMG, where she spent 4 years as a financial and management consultant to the public sector.

A graduate of the University of Cambridge, Louise has a strong interest in the Arts and served on the Board of The Liverpool Philharmonic for 6 years and plays violin for the Liverpool Mozart Orchestra.  She was awarded the CBE for services to Healthcare in 2017. 

Steve Rotheram, Metro Mayor of Liverpool City Region

Steve Rotheram was born in Knowsley in 1961 and was one of eight children. A bricklayer by trade, he’d set up his own company by the age of 22 and later went on to work in various capacities in the construction industry.

Having pursued qualifications through an FE College, he then went to John Moores University studying construction management before starting an MA in Contemporary Urban Renaissance at Hope University.

During this time he was employed as a Business Manager by the Learning and Skills Council.

Shortly after the birth of his first child in the 1990s, Steve became more involved in politics through his local Labour Party branch.

He was elected to serve as a Liverpool City Councillor in 2002 to represent Fazakerley ward – and held the ceremonial title of Lord Mayor of Liverpool during the city's European Capital of Culture year of 2008.

Despite never harbouring any previous Parliamentary ambitions, in 2010, Steve was elected as the Member of Parliament for the Liverpool Walton constituency.

While in Parliament, Steve was involved in a number of campaigns, both local and national. These included: fighting against cuts to prison officers in his constituency; exposing the blacklisting of construction workers; and lobbying for a ban on the use of old tyres on coaches.

Alongside all of this, Steve continued to support the families fighting for justice after the Hillsborough Disaster.

Towards the end of his time in Parliament, Steve served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Leader of the Opposition, before deciding to run in the selection for Labour’s candidate to be the Liverpool City Region’s first ever Metro Mayor.

In May 2017, Steve was elected to the position of Metro Mayor of the Liverpool City Region – securing 59% of the vote – on a manifesto that was ambitious, fair, green, connected and that ensures the city region works effectively together.

Nancy Hung, Co-Director of The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Hacking Medicine

Nancy is a rising senior at MIT studying Computer Science and Biomedical Engineering. She is the Co-Director of MIT Hacking Medicine, an organization aimed at energizing the healthcare community and accelerating medical innovation. She is a KPCB Engineering Fellow at Nuna Health, a startup in San Francisco tackling healthcare data analytics to make healthcare more affordable in the U.S. She is passionate about applying data science to improve medical outcomes and increasing mental health awareness for college students.

David Walliker, Chief Information Officer at The Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS Trust

David started at the Trust as Chief Information Officer in January 2015. He is also the Chief Information Officer at Liverpool Women’s Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and North West Coast Genomics, where he has been in post since 2013.

David has over 14 years’ experience within the NHS including working in Mental Health and Ambulance Services. Within his current role David has accountability for Information Technology, Information Management and Patient Access Services and he is also the Senior Information Risk Officer (SIRO) for the Trust.