The senior leadership team provides strategic leadership for the CN, driving our major quality improvement programmes and in some networks quality assurance across Cheshire, Merseyside, Lancashire and South Cumbria in the priority areas.

They oversee our work to improve local health outcomes which we do by connecting commissioners, providers, professionals, patients and the public across a pathway of care to share best practice and innovation, measure and benchmark quality and outcomes, and drive improvement.

The Deputy Director is accountable to NHS England’s area team medical director, who in turn is accountable to the Regional Director.

Senior leadership team

Jane Dunning, Deputy Director of Clinical Strategy/Clinical Networks and Senate

Email: jane.dunning1@nhs.net

Kathy Collins, Head of Clinical Programmes

Email: k.collins5@nhs.net

Kathy has worked in the NHS for over 40 years. She qualified as a Registered Nurse in 1986 and worked in a number of nursing management roles, before moving in to general management, taking up a post as a Clinical Services Manager in a large acute hospital where she was responsible for the clinical areas of Gastroenterology, Endoscopy, Infectious Diseases and Specialist Palliative Care.

Kathy joined the National Cancer Service Improvement Collaborative in 2001, initially working as a service improvement facilitator within Cheshire and Merseyside, before bring appointed as a deputy service improvement lead. She took up a post within Merseyside & Cheshire Cancer Network as Associate Director in 2008.

She leads on Palliative and End of Life Care, Respiratory and Mental Health for the North West Coast Clinical Network.

Dr Paul Mackenzie,  Head of Clinical Programmes

Email: paul.mackenzie@nhs.net

Before joining the Clinical Network, Paul worked in commissioning and at the Academic Health Science Network specialising in patient safety.

Paul has developed expertise in various clinical areas utilising project and programme management skills. He is passionate about reducing health inequalities and involving patients in improvement work and has developed and implemented a number of health care strategies across the region. He has an academic background and expertise in the area of cancer prevention.

He also has a strong clinical background in nursing, having worked in a variety of health care sectors including hospice care, district nursing, Macmillan nursing, secondary care and tertiary care as well as in the third sector.

He leads on Diabetes, Cardiac and Stroke for the North West Coast Clinical Network.

Bernadette Hurst, Senior Clinical Network Manager

Email: bernadette.hurst@nhs.net

Bernadette has worked in the NHS for nearly 7 years, initially joining the North West Strategic Health Authority to lead the development and delivery of a large scale change programme across the North West region supporting the Health, Wellbeing and Social Care reforms and the transition of Public Health into Local Government. In her current role, Bernadette is a member of the senior management team for the Networks and Senate, and deputises for the Associate Director.

Prior to this, Bernadette has led multi-organisational partnerships at both regional and sub-regional levels, aimed at securing continuous improvement in the public sector. She has  many years experience of leading complex multi-disciplinary teams, including a considerable period of time as an Assistant Chief Executive within Local Government.

Bernadette has also spent several years as part of a team seconded to central Government providing advice and support to all Authorities in the North West around the Government’s modernisation agenda. Her work has received national recognition by the Local Government Information Unit, the Institute for Public Policy and Research, the Merseyside Observatory for Social Inclusion, the IDeA and a number of universities.