Extension of the Non-Executive Chair and three Non-Executive Members of the Patient and Client Council Board

Date published: 20 March 2018

The Department of Health today announced the extensions to the terms of appointment of the Non-Executive Chair and three Non-Executive Members of the Patient and Client Council (PCC) Board.

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The extensions are:

Professor Maureen Edmondson - Non-Executive Chair from 7 March 18 to a date not later than 30 September 2018.

Professor Hugh McKenna - Non-Executive Member for a maximum of 6 months from 1 April 2018.

Dr May McCann - Non-Executive Member for a maximum of 6 months from 1 April 2018.

Mr Brain Compston - Non-Executive Member for a maximum of 6 months from 1 April 2018.

These extensions to appointments were made with the approval of the Department of Health.  There are no specific qualifications for appointment.

The Non-Executive Chair of the Patient and Client Council receives an annual remuneration of £16,832 for a time commitment of 1.5 days per week. Non-Executive members of the Patient and Client Council receive annual remunerations of £3,601 for a time commitment of 2 days per month.

The PCC, which is established under Section 16(1) of the Health and Social Care (Reform) Act (Northern Ireland) 2009, is a regional body supported by five local offices operating within the same geographical areas covered by the five HSC Trusts and LCGs. The overarching objective of the PCC is to provide a powerful, independent voice for patients, clients, carers, and communities on health and social care issues.

The appointments were made in accordance with the Code of Practice issued by the Commissioner for Public Appointments.

All appointments are made on merit and political activity plays no part in the selection process.  However, the Commissioner for Public Appointments for Northern Ireland requires the political activity of appointees (if any declared) to be published.  All appointees declared that they had not engaged in any political activity in the last five years.

Notes to editors: 

Details of Appointees

1. Professor Maureen Edmondson, OBE, BSc, PhD, FIFST, CSi, FECSS lives in Portaferry. She served six years as Chair of the Northern Ireland Food Advisory Committee and as Northern Ireland Member of the Food Standards Agency Board. She is a Trustee of the Institute of Food Science and Technology and has been its President April 2015-17. Maureen is a Board Member of FareShare UK and is Chair of the Advisory Committee for Northern Ireland for OFCOM the Communications Regulator. She is a visiting Professor in the University of Ulster School of Biomedical and Molecular Sciences. Maureen was first appointed to the Patient and Client Council on 7th March 2011. 

2. Professor Hugh P. McKenna CBE, PhD, B.Sc(Hons), RMN, RGN, RNT, DipN(Lond), AdvDipEd, FFN RCSI, FEANS, FRCN, FAAN is Dean of Medical School Development at Ulster University. He has over 250 publications including 11 books. He is a fellow of the Royal College of Nursing (FRCN), Fellow of the European Academy of Nursing (FEAN) and Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland, (FRCSI). In 2008, her Majesty the Queen appointed him Commander of the British Empire (CBE) for his work on health and community. In 2013, he was presented with the Outstanding Achievement Award by the Royal College of Nursing and in 2014, he was presented with a lifetime achievement Award at the Institute of Psychiatry in London. In 2009, he became a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing – only the third person in Europe and the fifteenth worldwide to be given this honour.  Currently, he is an Adjunct/Visiting Professor in universities in Slovenia and Australia and is Head of the Visiting Committee at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. For 5 years, he was adjunct professor at the University of Texas and Trinity College Dublin. His interests include patients as co-producers of research, suicide prevention, and the health care workforce. Recently he was awarded an Honorary Degree by Edinburgh Napier University.

3. Doctor May McCann PhD, Grad. Cert. Ed., Dip.Soc. Anth. BA lives in Belfast. Until early retirement she lectured in Social Anthropology at QUB. She subsequently worked in the voluntary and community sector, in education, research and policy work, initially in the women's sector and more recently in the area of mental health. Her research interests include Irish culture, gender, equality and 'involvement and co-production'. Dr McCann is involved as a carer in a range of mental health bodies, in the Department of Health, the Health and Social Care Board, the Public Health Agency, the Belfast HSC Trust as well as in professional and educational sectors. She is a board member of the Patient and Client Council, and a member, and previous Chair, of the Bamford Monitoring Group, the service user and carer group working towards the effective implementation of the recommendations of the Bamford Review of Mental Health and Learning Disability. Dr McCann sits on the board of Cause, a regional charity providing peer support and advocacy to mental health carers, having served a six year period as Chair.  She was recently appointed to the Special Committee on Human Rights in the Royal College of Psychiatrists.

4. Mr Brian Compston lives in Belfast. Mr. Compston was formerly Southern Area Manager, Business in the Community and former Head of Domestic Marketing, NIE plc. He was previously a Trustee Board Member of Citizens Advice NI until December 2016 and was formerly a member on the Eastern Health and Social Services Council until 31 March 2009. He is a member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing. Mr Compston holds no other public appointments.

5. Media enquiries to Department of Health Press Office on 028 9052 0579 or email pressoffice@health-ni.gov.uk.  Out of office hours please contact the Duty Press Officer via pager number 07623 974383 and your call will be returned. Follow us on Twitter @healthdpt.

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