Dr. Sarah O’Brien, Acting NCAGL for Chronic Disease and Clinical Lead, Integrated Care Programme for the Prevention and Management of Chronic Disease, Office of NCAGL for Chronic Disease

Sarah graduated from University College Dublin School of Medicine before working in Emergency Medicine in both rural and urban Australia. Upon her return to Ireland, Sarah trained as a General Practitioner with the Trinity College Dublin-Health Service Executive School of General Practice. Through her clinical experience working across a variety of urban, rural and disadvantaged settings, Sarah developed a keen interest in chronic disease management and health service improvement which spurred her on to undertake a Masters in Public Health Medicine and to complete Higher Specialist Training in Public Health Medicine. Sarah has been working as part of the NCAGL for Chronic Disease team since 2019.

Mairead Gleeson, General Manager, Office of National Clinical Advisor & Group Lead for Chronic Disease                                                             

Maireád Gleeson RGN, OND, MSC, H.Dip

Maireád Gleeson is the General Manager for the Integrated Care Programme for the Prevention of Management of Chronic Disease and the NCAGL office for Chronic Disease.

Maireád has extensive background working in Health Care and Management including experience in Senior Nurse Management roles in Acute setting and National Project Management roles on large scale complex Chronic Disease Projects. Her previous roles include Portfolio Manager for the National Director of Clinical Strategy and Programme Manager for the National Clinical Programme for Diabetes and Project Manager for Cardiovascular Strategy. This aligns with her Specialist interests which are Policy Development, Chronic Disease Implementation and Change Management.

Maria O’ Brien, BSc, Phd, MSc, Service Improvement Lead, Integrated Care Programme for Chronic Disease, Office of NCAGL for Chronic Disease

Dr Maria O’ Brien is the Service Improvement Lead for the Integrated Care programme for the Prevention and management of Chronic disease in Ireland. Maria has held previous roles as the Programme Manager for the National Heart Programme, National Project Manager for the Making Every Contact Count for 5 years up to mid 2020), and led the development and implementation of the programme across the Health service. Maria joined the Irish Health Service in 2004 and her specialist interests are policy development, chronic disease, implementation science, organisational development and change management, and health service evaluation and research

Respiratory programme

Dr Stanley DW Miller, National Clinical Lead Respiratory

Dr Stanley Miller is a graduate and scholar of Trinity College, Dublin and is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland. He has a background in basic science research relating to alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency and was awarded his MD by the National University of Ireland in 2008. He was a European Respiratory Society Research Fellow in non-invasive ventilation at St. James’ University Hospital, Leeds from 2007 to 2009, and subsequently spent 11 years as a Consultant Respiratory Physician at St. James’ University Hospital, Leeds where he was Lead Respiratory Physician for the Leeds Integrated COPD Service and the Leeds Virtual Respiratory Ward.

His clinical subspecialty interests include Integrated Respiratory Care, COPD and Alpha-1 antitrypsin Deficiency, Non-invasive ventilation and Sleep, and Interventional Bronchoscopy (EBUS and Endobronchial Valve placement). He is a Consultant Respiratory Physician at Mater Misericordiae University Hospital, Associate Clinical Professor UCD School of Medicine, Lead for Integrated Respiratory Care Mater Hospital / CHO9, and has been the National Clinical Lead for Respiratory since August 2022.

Dr Shane McKeogh, ICGP/HSE GP Integrated Care Lead for Adult Respiratory Disease

Shane is the principal GP in Solas Medical Centre in Rathfarnham, Dublin 14. He is also the ICGP/HSE GP Integrated Care Lead for Adult Respiratory Disease. Shane represents GPs on the National Clinical Programme for Respiratory Team. He has a special interest in the systems used for healthcare delivery, both nationally and internationally. He has worked as a GP in Yorkshire in the UK and Perth in Australia giving him useful insights into international healthcare systems. 

Shane graduated from UCD in 2000. He completed a two-year General Medicine training scheme before moving to the specialty of General Practice in 2003. He completed specialist General Practice training with the RCSI training scheme in 2006. He is a GP Trainer with the TCD/HSE GP Training Scheme and has been involved in undergraduate and postgraduate education throughout his career.

He is a previous director of the ICGP Network of Establishing GPs group, co-authoring “Signposts to Success", an ICGP publication relating to the business and organisational aspects of General Practice in Ireland. He is an active member of the Irish College of General Practitioners and represents GPs on several committees in the ICGP and IMO.  

Susan Curtis, Programme Manager, National Clinical Programme for Respiratory

Susan Curtis was previously in the role of programme manager from 2019-2022. Susan has a BSc (Hons) in Physiotherapy and a MSc in Leadership in Healthcare. Susan worked in the acute respiratory field for many years in Naas General Hospital which included experience in intensive care, pulmonary rehabilitation and oxygen clinics.

In her previous role as programme manager, Susan has led on the development of guidelines to support clinicians during the COVID-19 pandemic including guidelines for virtual Pulmonary Rehabilitation and virtual Early Supported Discharge as well as oxygen clinics and virtual training sessions for health care professionals across the country. Susan was involved in the launch of the HSE “End-to-End COPD Model of Care” in 2019 and the “End to End Adult Asthma Model of Care” in 2022. With the NCP Respiratory Susan is currently working with the other members of the multidisciplinary team in the ongoing development of ambulatory care hubs for Chronic Respiratory Disease.

Prof Derek O’Keeffe, National Clinical Lead Diabetes

Prof Derek O’Keeffe is a Physicianeer, he holds dual first-class honours degrees and doctorates in Engineering and Medicine. He was a Fulbright Scholar at Harvard, a Green Templeton Scholar at Oxford and is a graduate of the Endocrinology Clinical Fellowship at the Mayo Clinic, USA. As well as multiple academic publications, he holds biomedical patents and several international research prizes. He has previously worked with NASA placing a sleep experiment onboard the International Space Station and was their flight surgeon for a NEEMO Aquarius mission.He has explored over 110 countries, volunteered extensively & was awarded The Outstanding Young Person of the World by Junior Chamber International. He is a Black Belt Taekwondo Instructor, Qualified Pilot, Advanced Scuba Diver & Triathlete. In 2022 he designed an award winning Cardiovascular themed garden for Bloom in the Phoenix Park. He was recently awarded a first-class honours MBA degree and is the new HSE National Clinical Lead for Diabetes. He is a Consultant Physician (Endocrinologist) at University Hospital Galway and is the Professor of Medical Device Technology at the University of Galway.

Dr Suzanne Kelly, IC GP Lead for Diabetes

Dr Suzanne Kelly is a General Practitioner with a GMS contract in practice in Cork. She is the current HSE ICGP Lead for the Integrated Care Programme for Diabetes and the chair of the Diabetes in General Practice Group in Munster. She qualified from UCD and initially completed basic specialist training in Internal Medicine before General Practice training through RCSI. She is a regular contributor to educational webinars for GPs as well as a tutor on the UCC Diabetes module and iHeed diabetes diploma through the University of Warwick.

Dervla Kennedy, Programme Manager, National Clinical Programme for Diabetes

Dervla worked as an Occupational Therapist for over 12 years across a range of clinical areas including specialist palliative care, disability services, paediatrics and acute mental health. She worked predominantly in Primary Care with adults with chronic disease, older people and people with neurological conditions. Dervla worked as Clinical Tutor with U.C.C. and Primary Care Occupational Therapist in H.S.E. South 2015-2018. Dervla is on secondment from CHO 7 where she worked for three years to establish a Therapy service within St. Brigid’s Hospice.

Dervla holds a Masters in Evidence based therapy practice from University College Cork and Bachelor of Science (Occupational Therapy) degree from Trinity College. She completed the Leading Care 1 programme through the HSE leadership academy resulting in an Irish Management Institute graduate award in Executive Healthcare Leadership. In 2021, she completed the Diploma in Quality Improvement and Leadership through RCPI.

Dervla joined the NCP Diabetes and the ICPCD at a very exciting time as the end to end model for Chronic Disease is being implemented as part of the ECC. She will support both programmes to ensure successful implementation.

Dervla works closely with the Clinical Leads, National Working Group, people with Diabetes, RCPI Diabetes Clinical Advisory Group, CHOs and hospital Groups to advance the work of the NCP Diabetes and the ICPCD, to improve the clinical outcomes and experience for those living with Diabetes in Ireland. 

Dervla can be contacted by email dervla.kennedy@hse.ie

Prof. Ken Mc Donald, Consultant Cardiologist and Clinical Lead, National Heart Programme

Ken developed the St Vincent's/ St Michael’s Heart Failure Unit following his return from his sub-speciality training in heart failure at the University of Minnesota, USA. He has overseen the growth of the Unit into an internationally recognised clinical service and translational heart failure research centre.

The Unit clinical programme provides specialist heart failure services to in excess of 5,000 patients across the spectrum of heart failure. In addition, Ken developed the St Vincent's ‘Screening to Prevent Heart Failure (STOP-HF)’ Programme in association with St. Vincent's Collaborative General Practice Group. The STOP-HF study is a first-of-type, pragmatic, prospective trial which showed that natriuretic peptide-based screening and collaborative care can reduce the combined rate of left ventricular dysfunction and heart failure as well as major adverse cardiac events. Initially a research project, this effort is now an established clinical service managing in excess of 3,000 patients.

With established links to the School of Medicine and Medical Science and the Conway Institute at University College Dublin, Ken’s research team has focused on the natural history of left ventricular dysfunction, biomarkers of cardiovascular disease and novel strategies in the delivery of health care in chronic disease. The unit has close collaborative links with similarly focused units in the US and Europe. Ken is an ex-president of the Irish Cardiac Society, the Medical Director of the Heartbeat Trust and presently holds the position of the Clinical Lead for the National Heart Programme.

Dr. Joe Gallagher, ICGP Lead for Cardiovascular Disease, National Heart Programme

Joe is a GP in Gorey, Co Wexford. He trained on the South East GP training scheme and undertook a MD in the use of natriuretic peptides in prevention and diagnosis of heart failure. He is a clinical associate professor in UCD.

Regina Black, Programme Manager, National Heart Programme

The National Heart Programme was established in 2020. Regina manages the day-to-date operations of the programme and works closely with the Clinical leads, National Working Group, Clinical Advisory Group and HSE Senior Management to advance the work of the programme and improve services for those living with cardiovascular disease in Ireland. Regina holds an MSc Healthcare Ethics & Law from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland as well as a Diploma in Healthcare Management. 

Regina worked as Programme Manager to the National Heart Failure Programme for almost ten years with responsibility for the day to day management of the clinical programme developed to improve the quality of life of patients with heart failure. Prior to this she worked as Project Manager for Heart Health, with responsibility for co-ordination and monitoring of the implementation of Building Healthier Hearts in the Eastern Regional Health Authority. Regina has also worked as Programme Manager of the Prevention of Chronic Disease Programme and as Interim Programme Manager of the Acute Coronary Syndrome Programme.

Dr Linda Drummond, Programme Manager: Coronary Heart Attack Ireland Register (CHAIR) and National Heart Programme.

Linda is a scientist by background, with a PhD in Zoology and a higher diploma in Epidemiology. She has a keen interest in health information and data. She spent ten years as a project and centre manager in the National Perinatal Epidemiology Centre, where she led the National Clinical Audit for Very Low Birth Weight Infants in Ireland, and subsequently joined the National Care Experience Programme, where she was the Project Lead for the National Maternity Experience Survey and the National Inpatient Experience Survey. Linda joined the HSE in 2022 to take up the role of Programme Manager for CHAIR and the National Heart Programme.

Dr David McConaghy, IC GP Lead for Prevention Programme

Dr. David Mc Conaghy is a GP Partner in Sallins, Co. Kildare and The ICGP HSE Primary Care Lead for Integrated Care (Prevention).

He has a particular interest in hypertension and lipid control as well the HSE Chronic Disease Management Programme.

Margaret Humphreys, National Lead, Self- Management Patient Education and Support.

Margaret is a CORU registered dietitian with over 30 years’ experience working in diabetes care. She holds a Masters in Human Nutrition from UCC, a Higher Diploma in Health Care Management from RCSI, and has postgraduate training in adult teaching and learning. She has extensive experience as a Clinical Specialist Dietitian in diabetes, working in Cork University Hospital since 2001, before joining the NCAGL for Chronic Disease team in 2015. Currently she leads a number of Sláintecare Integration Fund projects to advance the design, development and implementation of diabetes self-management education and support nationally. 

Siobhán O’Farrell, provides executive support to the NCAGL office and is also the Administrator for Self-Management Education and Support

Siobhán graduated from the National University of Ireland, Galway in 2006 with a BSc (Hons) in Anatomy. After working in a number of different sectors, Siobhán joined the HSE and the Office of the NCAGL for Chronic Disease in 2016. She has specific responsibility for the Irish Self-management Education IT system and diabetes education courses.

We would be delighted to receive feedback at nationalcsp@hse.ie

Lorna Hurley, ECC Change Manager Chronic disease

Lorna Hurley RGN, BSc, MSc joined the NCAGL Office in 2021 as Change Manager, Enhanced Community Care (Chronic Disease). Prior to that she had led the national Sláintecare Integration Fund project “End to End Implementation of the Model of Integrated Care for Type 2 Diabetes in Two Community Healthcare Networks”. With a background in nursing, podiatry and research, Lorna has vast experience as in the area of integrated care service development and has first-hand knowledge and experience of healthcare systems in both Ireland and the UK. Lorna believes passionately in person-centred care and self-management support for chronic illness and has previously been a DESMOND educator, trainer and quality development assessor.  Her role with the ICP-CD involves supporting various national ECC Workstreams and supporting the local ECC Governance Groups in CHO1, CHO2 and CHO4 as they begin the process of implementation of the National Framework for the Integrated Prevention and Management of Chronic Disease.

Niamh Murtagh, ECC Change Manager Chronic disease

Niamh graduated from NUI Galway as a nurse and has almost 20 years’ experience nursing in the acute hospital sector, working predominately with cardiovascular and stroke patients. She worked in St. Vincent’s Hospital in the Cardiology Department, where she completed a Post Graduate Diploma in Cardiovascular Care Nursing and Certificate in Heart Failure Nursing. 

Niamh moved to Mayo University Hospital in 2012 as the Stroke Clinical Nurse Specialist. She has developed the stroke services incorporating the aims of the National Stroke Programme, and has lead out on several quality improvement projects for the hospital including the implementation of the National Thrombectomy Service. Niamh then progressed to the role of the Candidate Advanced Nurse Practitioner in Stroke and has completed a Certificate in Nurse Prescribing.