Liverpool Health Commissioners
Dame Lorna Muirhead (Chair)
Dame Lorna is a past President of the Royal College of Midwives and from 2006 until her retirement in 2017 she served as the Lord Lieutenant of Merseyside. In 1992 she became a member of the Council of the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) and, in 1997, was elected as President. She served two terms of office, until 2004. She was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 2000 for her services to midwifery.
Alison Moore
Alison is the Director of Refugee Women Connect (formerly MRANG) and also sits as a trustee for the Migrants’ Rights Network in London. Prior to this she was the practice manager at Islington Law Centre and the Howard League for Penal Reform. Alison worked for the Immigration Advisory Service for many years covering three different roles: she began as an appeals’ counsellor, representing clients in court in immigration and human rights’ appeals, and then became a supervising counsel, which involved court preparation and representation.
Professor Nicki Murdock
Nicki is a UK trained GP and paediatrician who qualified as a specialist in Medical Administration in Australia. Nicki has worked half her career in the UK and half in Australia. Whilst in Australia Nicki held state and national positions, President of Paediatrics and Child Health in the Royal Australasian College of Physicians 2012-2014, Chair of the Queensland Child Death Case Review Panel 2017-2019, foundation Chair of Health Leaders Australia - a not for profit organisation providing accreditation, IT and education services in healthcare. Nicki returned to the UK at the beginning of 2019 to take up post as Medical Director of Alder Hey Children’s NHS Trust, her interests are many but include governance for improvement, innovation and safety, for patients and their families.
Maggie O’Carroll
Maggie founded The Women’s Organisation in Liverpool in 1996 to address issues hindering female enterprise policy and practice development. She has led its development as an award-winning women's economic development agency and social enterprise since its inception and it is now the largest dedicated Women’s Economic Development Agency within the UK. She has been actively involved in women's economic development policy influencing on an international, national and regional basis.
Dr Paul Hughes
Paul is the Executive Medical Director of Addaction. He is a Medical Manager and General Practitioner with extensive experience of leading and managing complex healthcare delivery organisations within the UK and overseas. He is skilled in healthcare governance, financial management, primary care, medicine, change management and medical education.
Dr Colm O’Mahony
Colm is a retired consultant in genito-urinary medicine at the Countess of Chester Hospital, and also has a private practice at Nuffield Health at the Grosvenor Hospital, Chester. He deals with sexually transmitted infections, HIV/AIDS. He was elected as chairman of the National Association of GU Doctors in 2001 and to the British HIV Association executive committee in 2005. He is the outgoing President of LMI.
Neil Frackelton
Neil is the Chief Executive of Sefton Women's and Children's Aid. He began his career as a primary school teacher, before retraining as a social worker in Liverpool in the late 90s. He worked for Sefton Council for a number of years in the Family Support Team (Child Protection), before moving on to roles in the Voluntary Community and Faith Sector.
Neil has gained extensive experience working with a range of multi-agency organisations across the VCF sector, such as Sefton Borough
Dr Mary Packer
Dr. Mary Packer, is a recently retired obstetrician and gynaecologist who in the last two decades has worked in Kosovo and other eastern European countries. A key interest is women living in poverty and the need to improve the health of the next generation by working with such women. In her time in eastern Europe, Mary also became very experienced in working with families involved in human and drug trafficking. .
Professor Vivian Hope
Viv joined the Public Health Institute in November 2016 as Professor of Public Health. Prior to that he was a principal scientist at Public Health England, and also a Senior Lecturer at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. He has also held positions at Imperial College London and the University of Birmingham. The focus of Viv’s work has been on sexual health and the health harms, particularly infections, associated with drug use. His other interests include homelessness and LGBT health.
Dr Ruth Hussey
Ruth was the Chief Medical Officer for Wales from 2012 - 2016. She studied Medicine at the University of Liverpool, and was a previous Committee Member and is an Honorary Life Member of the Liverpool Medical Students’ Society. Previously she was Regional Director of Public Health and Senior Medical Director at NHS North West. In 2017 - 2018, she chaired a panel of experts that looked at ways to improve the Health and Social Care system in Wales. The panel proposed far reaching changes to the system.
Professor Barbara Parfitt
Barbara qualified as a nurse and midwife in the 1960s. By the 80s she was lecturing at Manchester University and undertook her PhD. In 1995 she moved to Glasgow Caledonian University as Professor and Dean of the School of Nursing, Midwifery and Community Health. She was also the Director of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Nursing and Midwifery and Secretary General of the Global Network of Collaborating Centres for Nursing and Midwifery. She is currently the founding Principal of the Grameen Caledonian College of Nursing in Bangladesh, and was recently awarded a CBE for her work in international health and nursing.
Sue Thomas
Sue was Director of Community Services for the Liverpool Housing Action Trust, working with tenants and housing/health professionals to improve the quality of life for residents in twenty high-rise estates across the city. Sue has over 15 years’ of non-executive Board experience. She was Deputy Chair of the Mersey South Divisional Board of Riverside housing for four years and Chair of the Lee Valley Housing Association for seven years and Chair of the Lee Valley Neighbourhood Board for eight years. She is a member of the University of Liverpool’s Research Governance Committee and Sub-Committee for Research Ethics.
Janet Brennan
A registered nurse since 1986, Janet has specialised in Orthopaedics for many years. She has held a variety of operational roles in Manchester, ranging from Matron to Head of Nursing across all specialities. She has also been involved in the Single hospital service across Manchester. Currently Deputy Director of Nursing and Midwifery at Liverpool Women’s Hospital since December 2018.
Liverpool Health Commission aims to conduct independent investigation and critical analysis of significant public health and health care policy issues. Find out more about the Liverpool Health Commission.
