De-implementation - Making space for Innovation

Grace Smith

Programme Manager- Patient Safety

Grace started her career in the NHS in 2006 as a Therapy Assistant and continued this role whilst studying to become a physiotherapist. Having graduated in 2013 Grace went on to specialise in acute respiratory care, stepping outside the traditional role of a physio and becoming a Clinical Matron leading an acute respiratory ward, for which she won a national Advancing Healthcare award. Before joining HIW Grace gained a fellowship at Health Education England (South East) as Regional Allied Health Professional (AHP) workforce fellow where she led the regional implementation of the nationally commissioned AHP support workforce transformation programme and AHP apprenticeships, before joining the NHS Frimley AHP workforce team.

Grace is in the final stages of completing an MSc in Professional Practice in Healthcare with her dissertation due in January 2025. For this, Grace is conducting primary research utilising mixed methodology to explore the ‘The lived experience of AHP support workers in the NHS’.

Sarah Willis

Genomics Innovation Director

Sarah joined Health Innovation Wessex in September 2024. She has over 20 years of experience in the NHS, working in clinical, operational and transformation roles. Sarah has a BSc (Hons) Physiotherapy degree from the University of Hertfordshire and is currently undertaking a Master’s degree in business administration. She’s held roles including Acute Therapy Services Manager, and Complex Discharge Manager, before transitioning to transformation. Prior to joining the organisation Sarah worked as Senior Programme Manager with the Central and South Genomic Medicine Service Alliance since 2021. She continues to partner with them in this joint role as Genomics Innovation Director.

Jo Murray

Associate Director Innovation Adoption - Strategic Programmes + Patient Safety Lead

Jo Murray is the Associate Director for Innovation Adoption - Strategic Programmes and Patient Safety Lead. She has a portfolio of projects delivered through the Wessex Innovation Adoption and Wessex Patient Safety Collaborative teams, including cardiovascular disease and the national priorities laid out in the NHS Patient Safety Strategy covering deterioration, maternity and neonatal, medicines, and system safety improvement programmes. She is also a national co-lead for the maternity and neonatal workstream.

Jo joined us from Oxford AHSN (now Health Innovation Oxford and Thames Valley) where she was the workstream lead for sepsis and deterioration for five years. During the pandemic she played an instrumental role in the Covid Oximetry @ home project. She has a clinical background, working as a Respiratory Physiotherapist in several London teaching hospitals before moving to Hampshire and beginning her journey in patient safety and clinical governance at Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. She is trained to Masters level in patient safety, quality improvement methodologies, facilitation and network weaving and is an ILM level 5 coach.

Jo is passionate about adding value and working collaboratively to achieve service-user centred care.

Robert Payne

Programme Manager Innovation Adoption

Rob studied Ancient History at Swansea University and graduated in 1998.

He spent four years working for a regional publication in Liverpool as a sales rep before moving to Australia in 2004.

Rob then spent ten years living and working in Australia (Melbourne) and has nine years of experience working in the travel industry and managing a business (Flight Centre). He has an FA level one coaching qualification and is involved with coaching his sons' football team.

Rob loves to travel and has explored much of Australia as well as many other destinations in Europe, Asia, the South Pacific and America.

Leah Gallon

Associate Director - Innovation Adoption

Leah Gallon is the Associate Director Innovation Adoption and is overseeing the Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) programme, Medicines Optimisation programme and Primary Care programme.

Leah joined the organisation from an acute NHS trust where she was the Clinical Service Manager for Therapies, and during the Covid pandemic worked as Silver Command and the Trust Covid Operational Lead.

Prior to this she has worked in both acute and community NHS settings around Hampshire.

Leah is a respiratory physiotherapist by background. She has worked in a variety of roles including clinical, operational, transformation and programme lead. She has delivered large scale projects, across systems and has been involved in improving patient pathways, bringing in new digital options and ways of working.

Leah is passionate about making a difference in the NHS after starting her career as a physiotherapist and wanting to improve the quality of care for patients. She is using her skills developed across various roles to make a wider difference within the NHS across the Wessex region.

Emma Wynn-Mackenzie

Innovation Adoption Programme Assistant

Emma is a Programme Assistant within the Innovation Adoption Team. She has held several administrative roles during her career.

Emma started working in HR for District Audit based in Otterbourne, running the new starter process and ensuring all staff data was correct. She moved to Southampton City Primary Care Trust in their HR Team, working on organisational development. This included working on the Improving Working Lives (IWL) and Investors in People (IIP) workplace accreditations, rolling out the annual staff survey, including analysis of the results and managing the staff bank of temporary workers.

Emma then moved into the Public Health Team as a Business and Planning Manager supporting Public Health Consultants with their projects and the Director of Public Health with the completion of their statutory functions including the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA). Key projects included supporting the campaign to fluoridate the water in Southampton and surrounding areas and moving the whole team into Southampton City Council under a TUPE like transfer.

Amanda Lees

Evaluation Programme Manager (Qualitative) - Insight

Amanda is an Evaluation Programme Manager in the Insight team at Health Innovation Wessex. Before this, she worked in academia as a qualitative and mixed methods researcher and evaluator, holding roles at the universities of Oxford (Oxford Vaccine Group), Southampton and Winchester. She has also worked in research and evaluation within the NHS, private sector, and local authorities.

Amanda's research focused on health and care, especially the experiences of those receiving and delivering services and she has published many peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, and co-edited a book on mixed-methods research in wellbeing and health. Since joining Health Innovation Wessex in 2022, she has enjoyed the challenge of applying research techniques within the complex real world environment, working with multidisciplinary colleagues on a diverse range of projects.

Outside of work, she loves walking especially in the Lake District, spending time with family and friends and is trying to become a regular at Parkrun!

Jackie Chandler

Evaluation Programme Manager (Qualitative)

Jackie joined Health Innovation Wessex in 2019 as a Programme Manager and specialises in qualitative evaluations. These cover evaluating the implementation of digital solutions, service transformation projects and systems-based evaluations in integrated care systems.

Following a career in general and mental health nursing in the NHS and voluntary sector she moved into health research, where she worked with the Royal College of Nursing and the then National Institute for Clinical Excellence developing guidelines. Jackie previously worked on multi method trials in NHS settings with an emphasis on using qualitative methods in process evaluations. Jackie worked for the international organisation Cochrane for evidence synthesis (systematic reviews of studies) and is an associate editor of their Handbook. Her PhD used complex systems theory to better understand implementation of evidence-based care in healthcare settings, a focus of interest at HIW.

Outside work, Jackie practises yoga and is learning to play the harp.

Emmanuel Defever

Qualitative Evaluation Programme Coordinator

Dr Emmanuel Defever is a health and care service evaluator, working with Health Innovation Wessex as a Programme Co-ordinator for the Insight team. He enjoys using his analytical and interpretive skills to explore how implementing different ways of working impact patients, staff and other stakeholders. He has a special interest in mixed method approach to explore 'what works for who, how and why.'

He trained as a physiotherapist and his career has evolved from clinical to research and evaluation role. He worked in a range of settings including acute, community and mental health services. Driven by the natural desire to learn, he completed his PhD and continues to directly connect with people from all walks of life who access or serve in the health and care sector.

He is blessed with a lovely wife, energetic children and a joyful pony. As a family, they all enjoy going to the stable, pony shows, camping, cycling, and often a cheeky picnic come rain or shine!

Philippa Darnton

Director of Insight

Philippa Darnton is Director of Insight at Health Innovation Wessex. She has over 30 years’ experience in the NHS and academia. From her early career as an Allied Health Professional (SLT), she has taken her passions for improving patient care and innovation into roles in strategic planning, operational, service improvement and commissioning.

She joined Health Innovation Wessex in 2015 to lead programmes in evaluation, spread and adoption, pivoting support during the pandemic to rapidly capture learning from front line clinicians and managers through an innovative Rapid Insight approach. Having led a team to deliver over 100 independent evaluations of innovations in health care including digital solutions, her work has contributed critical insights to enable decisions about what innovation benefits patients and our health and care systems and how to implement it. Her large-scale improvement work has included programmes in stroke care, cardiac services and neuro-rehabilitation.

She has a Master's qualification in management from Warwick University, which equips her to manage a house build, two teenage boys and a young cocker spaniel.

Andrew Sibley

Evaluation Programme Manager (Mixed Methods)

Andrew joined Health Innovation Wessex in 2018 and is an Evaluation Programme Manager in the Insight team. Before this, he worked in academia as a mixed methods Senior Research Fellow, holding roles at King's College London and the University of Southampton. He has also worked in a research capacity directly for NHS and local authority organisations.

Andrew brings a wide range of expertise in using advanced quantitative and qualitative methods to support real-world evaluations of innovation. His research interests include the application of implementation theories/models/frameworks to support innovation adoption, evaluation of new care models and new roles to support long-term conditions, and medicines management.

What drives his work is a deep commitment to improving patient care and promoting proven innovation to improve health services. Andrew is passionate about bridging the gap between research and evaluation approaches to benefit the real world assessment of innovation.

Outside of work, he enjoys running, badminton, and travelling the world with his family.

Julia Wilson

Evaluation Programme Coordinator

Julia is a mixed-method researcher and project manager passionate about transforming healthcare through innovation. She currently works as an Evaluation Programme Co-ordinator at Health Innovation Wessex, supporting real-world evaluations aiding the adoption of innovations across the NHS. Her expertise spans across developing and integrating digital AI products, health behavioural science and mixed-method research.

Julia brings over seven years of experience managing and supporting complex academic and clinical projects, with a strong track record at organisations like Sacher AI, Allurion Technologies, University Hospitals Plymouth and the University of Plymouth. With a background in healthcare innovation and a portfolio of published research, Julia is driven by a commitment to improving patient outcomes and empowering communities.

Outside of work, she enjoys hiking, golfing, and exploring the intersection of technology and wellbeing.