The Improvement Collective

Adjunct Professor Cathy Balding

Cathy works with boards, executives and leaders, specialising in ‘clinical governance systems with purpose’.

Cathy’s career spans quality and health service manager, accreditation assessor and quality policymaker.  She was inaugural manager of the ACHS clinical indicator program and the Victorian Quality Council.  Cathy has spent the last 20 years as Director of Qualityworks, focused on developing clinical governance systems that support great point of care experiences for clients and staff.

She conducts research into clinical governance effectiveness and is the author of many journal articles, online courses and three books on this topic. Most recently Cathy worked with the Australian Safety and Quality Commission to develop the Implementation Guide for the Safety and Quality Commission National Clinical Governance Model (2026.)

Cathy is Adjunct Professor at James Cook University, a Board Director with RSL LifeCare NSW and co-hosts the No Harm Done podcast and QualityClub, an online coaching program for quality managers.

Cathy’s books, courses and resources can be accessed at www.cathybalding.com. 

Dr Sarah Dalton

Dr Sarah Dalton has a clinical background as a Paediatric Emergency Physician, and a long history of medical leadership roles including previous President of the Paediatric and Child Health Division of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians. Sarah has worked in different clinical and managerial roles across NSW over the last 25 years, including several executive leadership roles within NSW Health. 

Sarah is committed to improving the quality of healthcare through working with clinicians who deeply understand how healthcare is delivered and recognise opportunities for change. She has completed a Fulbright Scholarship in Clinical Leadership and is an experienced executive coach and facilitator who primarily works with healthcare leaders.

Mrs Tammy Doyle

• ACHS Root Cause Analysis (RCA) Trainer

Tammy Doyle has more than 25 years experience in health care, as a clinician and Quality and Safety (Q&S) expert.

Since 2009, Tammy has worked as Patient Safety Clinical Nurse Consultant, in the Sunshine Coast Hospital and Health Service (SCHHS).  During this time, Tammy has gained extensive experience in how to successfully lead Root Cause Analysis (RCA) and Open Disclosure teams, and knowledge of the legislative requirements for the management of reportable events.

Tammy has experience in designing and delivering local and state-wide Q&S training programs including Root Cause Analysis (RCA), Human Factors, and Clinical Incident Management.

Tammy’s passions include actively leading and contributing to activities that support safe patient-focused care and a positive safety culture.

Dr Jane Evans

• Group Manager, Improvement and Experience
• St Vincent’s Health Australia

Dr Jane Evans, DrPH, is a distinguished healthcare leader with over 30 years of experience in spearheading healthcare improvement programs across the State of Victoria and three major health services. Her research is dedicated to identifying and reducing inefficiencies in healthcare delivery processes, thereby enhancing the value and outcomes of care. Dr Evans places a strong emphasis on measuring and capturing financial benefits.

Dr Evans has made significant contributions to the field through her original research and the development of a conceptual framework that hospitals and governments can utilize to minimize waste, improve value, and achieve financial gains for reinvestment. Her work has been widely published, enriching the knowledge base of healthcare management.

In 2017, Dr Evans was honoured as one of the top 50 most influential women in the public service by the Institute of Public Administration Australia.

Ms Leah Falkingham

• Director, ACHS Improvement Academy

Leah Falkingham has over 15 years’ experience in healthcare improvement, workforce capability, and education innovation across global health systems.

She is recognised for her expertise in transforming organisations into adaptive learning environments that strengthen safety, sustainability, and performance against regulatory standards. Leah brings a strong focus on design thinking, systems leadership, and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) strategy to deliver measurable improvements in patient outcomes, workforce resilience, and organisational impact.

Her previous roles include Global Strategic Partnerships Manager and Group Capability Manager at Icon Group, where she established led international partnerships to support workforce growth and improved patient outcomes across multiple geographies. She has also worked as a consultant advising international healthcare organisations on building learning cultures, embedding sustainability frameworks, and designing innovative, system-wide capability solutions.

Leah has extensive experience in healthcare accreditation and standards, with deep knowledge of frameworks including EQuIP and the NSQHS Standards.

Assoc Professor Peter Hibbert

• Stream Lead Patient Safety and Appropriateness of Care, Australian Institute of Health Innovation, Macquarie University

Peter has worked for the last 20 years in research and policy implementation in patient safety and measurement of evidenced-based care, including three years as an Associate Director at the National Patient Safety Agency in the UK. He previously worked as a physiotherapist for 12 years.

He is also leading an NHMRC Partnership Grant into improving patient safety adverse event reviews across New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, and the ACT. As well as research, Hibbert has hands-on clinical governance roles including membership of Board level committees at the South Australian Ambulance Service and undertaking Reviews when patients or residents are harmed.

Dr Brent James

• Clinical Professor (Affiliated), Dept of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine

Brent James is known internationally for his work in clinical quality improvement, patient safety, and the infrastructure that underlies successful improvement efforts, such as culture change, data systems, payment methods, and management roles.

He is a member of the National Academy of Medicine (formerly known as the Institute of Medicine), and participated in that organization’s seminal works on quality and patient safety.

He is a Clinical Professor at the Clinical Excellence Research Center (CERC), Department of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine.He holds adjunct faculty appointments at several other universities:

• Visiting Lecturer, Harvard School of Public Health (Health Policy and Management)
• Adjunct Professor, University of Utah David Eccles School of Business
• Adjunct Professor, University of Utah School of Medicine (Family Medicine; Biomedical Informatics)

He is a Fellow of the American College of Physician Executives.He is presently a Senior Advisor at Health Catalyst, Salt Lake City, UT; Senior Fellow at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), Boston, MA; and a Senior Advisor at the Leavitt Group, Salt Lake City, UT.

He is was formerly Chief Quality Officer, and Executive Director, Institute for Healthcare Delivery Research at Intermountain Healthcare, based in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Through the Intermountain Advanced Training Program in Clinical Practice Improvement (ATP), he has personally trained more than 5,000 senior physician, nursing, and administrative executives, drawn from around the world, in clinical management methods, with proven improvement results (and leading to over 50 “sister” training programs in more than 10 countries).

He currently anchors an upgraded version of the ATP, Mastering Clinical Quality / Leading Clinical Change (MCQ), based at Health Catalyst in Salt Lake City, UT.

He has been honored with a series of awards for quality in health care delivery, including (among many):

• 2018 John M. Eisenberg Patient Safety & Quality Individual Award, Joint Commission & National Quality Forum, March 2019
• Distinguished Alumnus, University of Utah, 2015
• Deming Cup – Columbia University School of Business, 2011
• C. Jackson Grayson Medal, Distinguished Quality Pioneer – American Quality and Productivity Center, 2010
• Joint Commission Ernest A. Codman Award, 2006 AHA HRET TRUST Award, 2005
• National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) Quality Award, 2005 American College of Medical Quality Founders’ Award, 1999

For 8 of first the 9 years it existed, he was named among Modern Physician’s “50 Most Influential Physician Executives in Healthcare.” He was named among the “100 Most Powerful People in Healthcare” (Modern Healthcare) for over 5 consecutive years, and among Modern Healthcare’s “25 Top Clinical Informaticists”.

Before coming to Utah in 1986, he was Assistant Professor in the Department of Biostatistics at the Harvard School of Public Health, providing statistical support for the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) and Cancer & Leukemia, Group B (CALG); and staffed the American College of Surgeons’ Commission on Cancer.

He holds the following degrees;

• Bachelor of Science degrees inComputer Science (Electrical Engineering) and
• Medical Biology; an
• M.D. degree (with residency training in general surgery and oncology); and a
• Master of Statistics degree.

He serves on several non-profit boards of trustees dedicated to clinical improvement and patient safety.

Ms Lucy Lehane

• Clinical Educator Quality and Safety, ACHS Improvement Academy

Lucy has extensive clinical and leadership experience as a nurse in intensive care, acute community and cancer care in the public, private and not-for-profit sectors. Prior to joining the ACHS Improvement Academy, she worked as the Quality, Safety, and Infection Control Specialist Nurse at Chris O’Brien Lifehouse, Sydney where she had responsibilities in all aspects of the clinical safety and quality system including management of the infection control program.

Mr Anthony Lock

• Founding Director, Nexus Human Performance Training Royal Perth Bentley Group
• Managing Director of ASCEND – Human Performance and Leadership Development
• RAAF, Reserve Squadron Leader Pilot
• Air Transport Pilot’s License holder – Boeing 737 Domestic and International Operations

With over 6000 flying hours on various high-performance aircraft and working with Special Forces Teams around the world, Anthony has extensive experience within the military and aviation industries. During his military flying career, Anthony developed an expertise for working within high-stress situations, whether during combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, humanitarian/peacekeeping missions throughout Asia or during instructional and training missions in Australia.

During this time Anthony saw immense value in leadership and Human Factors (HF) training (Crew Resource Management) and became a HF specialist for fellow pilots and aircrew members. This also included work in automation management and engineering modifications of cockpit systems in single seat aircraft and critical mission system solutions in large transport aircraft.

On leaving the RAAF, he flew for a well-known Australian airline where his HF experience and teachings was employed.

In 2017 Anthony was appointed as the Director of Patient Safety & Human Performance at Royal Perth and Bentley Hospital’s and led the development of Australia’s first hospital wide, Safety Critical Industry based, Human Factors training course – NEXUS.  In collaboration with experienced HF clinical and non-clinical staff, and researchers from the Universities of Western Australia and Curtin, NEXUS is proving to benefit not only patient safety but staff workplace satisfaction and assisting leaders throughout the organisation.  Anthony works in collaboration with the NSW Clinical Excellence Commission, the Australian Council on Healthcare Standards and the University Centre for Rural health in Lismore.

Ms Yvonne McCann

Yvonne McCann has more than 50 year's experience working at national, state, area and local health services as a clinician, educator, manager and in senior executive leadership and management positions in NSW and ACT.

Yvonne has worked in most Australia States, in teaching, metropolitan and regional hospitals as well as community (primary care)and health departments. She has worked in a variety of services as a frontline clinician, educator and manager, predominately in the field of Women’s and Children’s Health. Yvonne was a participant in an Australian American Nurse Exchange program and study tour.

Yvonne was an ACHS Assessor for almost 15 years and also a Coordinator for 3 years together with appointments to the faculty at USyd and UTS.

She has a keen interest and knowledge in areas of continuous improvement, education and workforce support.

Ms Sarah Michael

Sarah Michael is a Registered Nurse with over 45 years' experience in the health sector. Her career spans clinical practice as a registered nurse and intensive care manager, through to quality, clinical governance and management roles at hospital, health service and state levels, and consulting across Australia and New Zealand. From 2011 to 2024, Sarah was the Group General Manager of Clinical Governance and Safety at St Vincent's Health Australia, working across acute, sub-acute, public, private and aged care sectors. She now consults independently in the clinical governance space.

Sarah's expertise spans clinical governance, both strategic and operational, incident management and investigations, patient experience, policy development, organisational change, benchmarking and reporting, knowledge management, and quality and safety education and training.

Sarah contributed to the landmark Quality in Australian Health Care Study (MJA, 1995) and co-authored the chapter on Clinical Governance and Risk Management for Medical Administrators (Springer, 2023). In the early 2000s, she was part of the NSW Health team that developed and rolled out Australia's inaugural Root Cause Analysis program,  a cornerstone of incident management and systems-thinking investigation that remains in use nationally today, and a field she remains deeply passionate about.

Ms Katie Robinson

• Grad Cert Health Services management (Quality and Safety)
• Grad Cert Sexual Health
• Grad Cert Forensic Nursing

Katie has over 25 years of diverse experience in clinical care, management, and senior leadership roles including acute care, primary care, public health, and community health, catering to both adult and paediatric populations.

Katie has demonstrated a commitment to serving diverse communities, including time spent working in remote and rural areas and with First Nations communities. As a Palawa woman (Tasmanian Aboriginal), she brings a unique perspective and cultural sensitivity to her work. 

Katie is also a published researcher, having contributed to a paper on a novel gel-based method for self-collection of pathology samples (BMJ) and a graduate of the ACHS Quality Improvement Lead (QIL) program. Her passion for improvement led her to spend 12 months on the ACHS Improvement Academy faculty before transitioning to a full-time role, where she continues to inspire excellence in healthcare practice.

Her previous roles include Quality and Safety Infection Control, Nursing Director and clinical leadership roles in sexual health, forensic nursing and statewide project management. Early clinical roles include critical care areas of ICU, ORS and ED.

Awhina (Awhi) Oudes

Awhina (Awhi) is a registered nurse with clinical experience primarily in paediatric critical care in New Zealand and Saudi Arabia. After moving to Australia in 2019, she worked in a range of education, governance and management roles before moving into patient safety in 2021. 

Awhi brings a unique perspective to her current role as Nurse Manager, Patient Safety, for North West Hospital and Health Service, drawing on her Māori heritage, Tūhourangi (Te Arawa), and her experience working across different states and countries.

As a Patient Safety Officer in a small, remote health service, Awhi has become a true jack-of-all-trades, leading clinical incident reviews across specialties and navigating the complexities of patient journeys that often span multiple sites and healthcare providers.

Ms Shelley Thomson

• Co-Founder and Director, The Patient Experience Agency
• Faculty Member, Improvement Collective

Shelley Thomson is a faculty member of the Improvement Collective, where she delivers webinars as the specialist in consumer partnership under the National Safety and Quality Health Service (NSQHS) Standards, patient experience and patient voice — incorporating consumer, carer and patient perspectives and experience into everything she does. She is also Co-Founder and Director of the Patient Experience Agency, a human-centred design consultancy focused on advancing practical, outcomes-driven healthcare improvement. An allied health professional and experienced facilitator, Shelley works with clinics and services to embed Patient-Reported Measures (PROMs and PREMs) and meaningful consumer partnerships into clinical practice, service design and governance.

Her work supports organisations to deliver safer, more personalised and value-based care aligned with the NSQHS Standards. Guided by the principle “Nothing About Us, Without Us,” Shelley champions the active involvement of patients, carers and communities in shaping care delivery, quality improvement and health system reform alongside clinicians, leaders and digital health innovators. Shelley holds ICHOM’s Certified Value-Based Health Care Professional credential and has completed the Value Institute for Health and Care’s Measuring What Matters and Healthcare Transformation Leadership programs at the University of Texas at Austin.

Mr Pieter Walker

Pieter brings more than three decades of experience in healthcare improvement, leadership and organisational development, including over 25 years in management consulting. For more than 20 years, he was lead consultant to The Health Roundtable, working with more than 200 hospitals across Australasia to use comparative data, shared learning and facilitated improvement to strengthen performance and patient outcomes.

He also served as National Head of Quality, Safety and Improvement for a private healthcare network of 17 hospitals.

Pieter advises and facilitates in strategy execution, change management, executive and clinical team effectiveness, culture, clinical governance, systems and Lean thinking, and responsible AI governance and readiness. 

He is a Fellow and Certified Health Executive of ACHSM and Deputy Chief Examiner of its Fellowship program.