De-implementation - Making space for Innovation

Nicky Smith

Programme Manager Innovation Adoption

Nicky joined the organisation in July 2024 and recently completed an MSc in Health Sciences in 2024 from Oxford Brookes University.

She has a background in adult nursing working in the community, primary care and with children and young people. She has experience in transformation, innovation and engagement supporting populations and communities working collaboratively with the NHS Integrated care system (ICS) including local authority, social care, communities, and voluntary sector with a successful track record of delivering transformation capability, population health improvement and empowering and engaging communities to improve their health and wellbeing. Additionally, she has experience supporting families, children and young people and primary care delivering the UK childhood immunisation schedule (and covid vaccination) addressing health inequalities alongside outreach vaccination and tailored support to under-represented communities, advice and education for parent/carers, communities, and the voluntary sector.

Leah Gallon

Associate Director - Innovation Adoption

Leah Gallon is the Associate Director Innovation Adoption and is overseeing a number of programmes including our locality work, National MedTech Funding Mandate, National Respiratory Programme and the Topol Digital Fellowship.

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 and Wiltshire.

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 multiple organisations 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 and support the workforce. She is using her skills developed across various roles to make a wider difference within the NHS across the Wessex region.

Caroline Thomas

Programme Assistant Innovation Adoption

Caroline is a Programme Assistant for the Innovation Adoption team, having initially joined our Patient Safety team in April 2018.

As a Programme Assistant, Caroline has worked across the Insight, Medicines Optimisation, Patient Safety and corporate programmes providing project support and events management expertise.

Her background is in health insurance, and for 12 years she worked for one of the largest insurers in the world in claims management. During this time she gained experience in carrying out independent medical assessments, financial reviews and investigation of fraudulent claims.

She also has experience in staff coaching, occupational rehabilitation, recruitment, communications and implementation of small and large-scale change in both current and previous posts. In addition, she has experience in website management including search engine optimisation, sales and complaints handling.

Caroline is passionate about supporting teams to effect change for the better and is PRINCE2 certified.

Linda du Preez

Programme Co-ordinator Innovation Adoption

Linda is a Programme Co-ordinator for Innovation Adoption.

Linda is an experienced Occupational Therapist who worked for over 20 years as a clinician and team leader specialising in supporting those living with frailty to stay independent at home for longer and live the lives they choose. Prior to joining Health Innovation Wessex, she worked in a training role educating managers and staff on the importance of managing wellbeing in their workplaces. Her current role enables her to combine her passion for innovation and evidence-based practice, with her skill and experience.

Linda's role involves supporting the work of the Innovation Adoption directorate by co-ordinating spread and adoption of health and care innovations across Wessex.

Jenny Curtis

Programme Assistant Innovation Adoption

Jenny is an Innovation Adoption Programme Assistant who joined Health Innovation Wessex in 2023. Jenny’s background is in Further Education support services. She began her career as a Library Assistant at Peter Symonds College, before moving to Eastleigh College where she was a Learner Recruitment and Engagement Executive, supporting the learner journey from application through to enrolment. After 6 months, she progressed to a management position as Adult and Community Learning Team Leader, in which she oversaw and developed the College’s leisure course provision. Jenny received her first-class honours degree in Creative Writing in 2020 and has been featured in a number of publications, including Resurrection Trust – a collection of stories about living sustainably spearheaded by The University of Southampton.

Heather Stacey

Senior Programme Manager Innovation Adoption

Heather initially joined Health Innovation Wessex in February 2021 to support the Mental Health Safety Improvement Programme and Managing Deterioration (Children and PEWS). Since then, she has moved to the Innovation and Adoption Team, with a focus on supporting the Dorset system.

She is an Occupational Therapist, completing her training in London, before moving to Edinburgh and then Dorset in 2007. Heather has a Masters in Advanced Mental Health Practice and has worked within the NHS for 30 years, mainly within mental health services in most settings including acute assessment, community and outreach posts - working clinically and in leadership roles.

She undertook an HEE-funded Patient Safety Fellowship which focused on learning from staff reflections to focus on how patients and families are supported around the time of death. Heather is keen to address the key themes from this within her work: improving system working, communication and staff wellbeing. She has just completed her ILM level 5 coaching qualification.

Meet our Insight team

Katherine Gale

Evaluation Programme Manager (Qualitative)

Katherine is an Evaluation Programme Manager within the Insight Team. With 18 years of experience in health and social care research and evaluation, she is committed to improving patient outcomes and supporting healthcare staff through evidence-based innovation.

Katherine joined Health Innovation Wessex in 2016 while completing her PhD in Operational Research at the University of Southampton. Her doctorate formed part of the Care Life Cycle (CLC) project, a multidisciplinary programme examining the supply and demand of health and social care within an ageing society.

With a deep interest in the application of research to real-world challenges, Katherine has worked on a range of programmes that seek to enhance the delivery of care services through data-driven insights.

Outside of work, Katherine enjoys spending time with her young family, running and being on, in or by the sea.

Connect with Katherine on LinkedIn

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.

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!

Emily Hunter

Associate Director - Insight

Emily is the Associate Director of the Insight team. She has strategic oversight of the team’s portfolio and of the high quality work we produce. Emily works closely with clients to scope our support and develop our business.

Emily has a background in evaluating global health projects and support Cancer Research UK’s early diagnosis programme, working closely with primary care and system stakeholders. She has led Insight’s evaluation offer for innovators, overseen large evaluations of complex programmes, and regularly delivers sessions to develop understanding and capabilities in evaluation.

Facilitative and calm under pressure, Emily attributes her work style to the huge benefits that come from her love of music, as a performer and a keen audience member.

Sophie Barton

Advanced Analyst

Sophie joined the Insight Team as Advanced Data Analyst in 2019 and has over a decade of experience working in the NHS. She holds a Master’s degree and worked for the Isle of Wight NHS Trust and the South, Central and West Commissioning Support Unit prior to joining HIW.

Her expertise lies in hospital data sets, where she specialises in transforming complex data into actionable insights that support healthcare planning and delivery. Beyond her professional life, she is a mother of two young children who enjoys spending time outdoors with her family. She is driven by a commitment to making a meaningful impact through data.

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.

How can we help you?

To arrange an informal discussion,
email enquiries@hiwessex.net