ImproveWell appoints inaugural Advisory Group members

19 October 2020

19 October 2020, London (UK): ImproveWell LTD (“ImproveWell” or “the Company”) has appointed seven members to its inaugural Advisory Group with representatives from the healthcare industry, technology sector and investment community in the UK and USA. The members are:

• Dr Azhar Ali, previously IHI’s Executive Director, Middle East and Asia-Pacific
• Dr Emad Almusa, previously Chief of Radiology at Aspetar, Qatar
• Tracey Barr, independent consultant with 30+ years’ experience in healthcare
• Rob Hill, investor and experienced business and social enterprise mentor
• Emma Maslen, senior technology leader with 20+ years’ experience
• David Price, senior executive with 35+ years’ experience in the technology sector
• Chrysoula Zervoudakis, senior investment director and management consultant

Full member biographies are available below. The main purpose of the ImproveWell Advisory Group is to provide the senior team with advice and mentorship to help the Company deliver on its operational and strategic objectives.

Lara Mott, CEO and Co-founder of ImproveWell, said: “We recognise the importance of partnerships and collaboration to deliver success and have worked hard over the past four years to develop strong industry relationships. We are delighted to welcome our new Advisory Group members to the Company; their combined expertise is highly complementary to the ImproveWell team and will be invaluable as we scale.”

Dr Azhar Ali, BSc (Hons), MBChB, MRCGP(UK), MBA

Dr Ali is Managing Partner at the Forth Medical Group, one of the largest and most innovative primary care groups in Scotland. Prior to this he was in a senior leadership role at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), a US-based non-profit organisation. At IHI, he led the portfolio of work in the Middle East and Asia Pacific regions. He is a trained Improvement Advisor and Patient Safety Officer. He is recognised as an expert in quality by the International Society for Quality in Health Care (ISQua). In addition, he is a practicing Primary Care Physician and has over 20 years of clinical experience. Between 2009 and 2015, Dr Ali spent five years at the Abu Dhabi Health Services Co. (SEHA) in Abu Dhabi (UAE), initially as the Director of Clinical Affairs & Quality, Ambulatory Healthcare Services, and then latterly as the Group Quality and Physician Services Director. Additionally, he spent nearly three years as a surveyor for Joint Commission International Accreditation (JCIA). Dr Ali served as a Clinical Director of Primary Care in Lanarkshire, Scotland, and was a GP Principal and partner at Strathaven Health Centre in Lanarkshire. He was also National Clinical Lead for the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP), Scotland’s flagship programme, Living Better, and served as Co-Chair/Primary Care Lead for the Respiratory Managed Clinical Network in NHS Lanarkshire. Dr Ali is a graduate of the University of Glasgow and Imperial College, London, and he holds an MBA (with distinction) from the University of Strathclyde. He is a member of distinguished medical societies including the Royal College of General Practitioners (UK) and the Faculty of Medical Leadership and Management (FMLM), UK, and is an alumnus of the INSEAD Middle East Health Leadership Programme.

Dr Emad Almusa

As a physician turned entrepreneur, Dr Almusa has combined his medical experience in sports medicine with the skills he has acquired while completing his MBA from London Business School. With his vision of the future of sports medicine in mind, Dr Almusa brought together professionals from all over the world with variable expertise and has founded ZiYou. After completing his residency and fellowship in bone radiology at the University of Pittsburgh, Dr Almusa joined New York University Medical Center before returning to University of Pittsburgh Medical Center as the Fellowship Director. His career then took him to Qatar, where he eventually became the Chief of Radiology at the world-leading specialised orthopaedic and sports medicine hospital, Aspetar (in 2009, Aspetar was accredited as a “FIFA Medical Centre of Excellence” by F-MARC). Dr Almusa’s career has allowed him to gain invaluable experience in sports medicine while working with athletes from numerous sports including football, handball, ice hockey, baseball and American football. Players have been from top leagues including the English Premier League, NFL, NHL and NBA.

Tracey Barr

Tracey is a highly regarded independent consultant with extensive (30+ years) experience of developing strategies for a range of healthcare organisations – from policy makers, research bodies and healthcare charities, to NHS, private and independent sector providers and commissioners as well as to emerging digital health companies and healthcare investors. She combines an ability to analyse and distil complex data with excellent people skills to offer strategic insights and recommendations that clients own and can action. She has a track record of being able to engage with, and get buy-in from, a wide range of key stakeholders from multiple organisations on complex, challenging issues.

Rob Hill

Rob is a business and social enterprise investor and mentor, with 20 years of investment experience across a broad range of businesses. Rob qualified as an accountant with Arthur Andersen in 1998 and subsequently joined the banking and debt advisory business of NM Rothschild in London. In 2001 he joined the UK investment team of CVC Capital Partners, one of the world’s largest and most successful private investment firms, with sector responsibility for UK healthcare. After leaving CVC, Rob led the start-up of an investment business to support the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises in the UK, and now runs a family office investment practice. Rob comes from a family with a long nursing tradition; his mother and sister were career nurses for over 30 years. Rob has a BEng in Aerospace Engineering from Bristol University and is a member of the ICAEW.

Emma Maslen

A senior technology leader, Emma has 20+ years’ experience working for household names. Most recently Emma was Managing Director of SAP Concur, where she championed employee engagement, talent development and inclusion. With a passion for coaching, Emma now has a portfolio career working with individuals and organisations. Emma’s business inspir’em helps start-ups and individuals grow through strategic thinking, strategy and development. Emma is a member of the female founder network Angel Academe, a board advisor to traveller safety company Maiden Voyage and also commercial advisor to nuggets – a blockchain fintech & Phoenix51, a talent SaaS platform business.

David Price

David has recently retired after 38 years with ExxonMobil Chemical working in the Petrochemical industry. He has held executive positions in Manufacturing, Marketing, Sales, Technology and Project Management, many of these outside the UK. As a senior manager in a company with a strong reputation for operational excellence, he has extensive experience of leading work practice improvement and Total Quality Management programmes within large organisations, consistent with the concepts being developed by ImproveWell. David is a British citizen and holds a BA in Chemistry from Oxford University

Chrysoula Zervoudakis

Chrysoula has over 25 years’ experience as sector analyst and senior investment director with INVESCO and AXA IM, covering a variety of sectors including healthcare in the UK and Europe. She now focuses on strategic corporate governance and sustainability advice to help management teams address the factors that are key to sustainable corporate success and invests in innovative impactful start-ups. She holds an MBA from Alliance Manchester Business School and a B.Soc.Sc in Economics from University of Birmingham. She has completed the FT Non-Executive Directors Diploma and the University of Cambridge Business Sustainability Management Course.

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Further information:

Please get in touch at hello@improvewell.com, or follow us on Twitter @ImproveWellUK

Notes to Editors:

About ImproveWell

ImproveWell is a digital staff engagement solution for improving quality in healthcare. It gives everyone a voice, helping organisations to improve staff experience and the quality of patient care from the ground up.

We recognise that those on the frontline are best-placed to improve the systems they work in and that a happier workforce leads to better patient outcomes and improved performance. The ImproveWell solution’s three feedback systems boost morale and empower the frontline to drive change. 24/7 everyone can: suggest ideas for improvement; share how their day at work is going; and complete tailored pulse surveys. An intelligent dashboard helps group and organisational leads to capture real-time data, track workforce sentiment, prioritise quality improvement efforts, measure change and publish reports to complete the feedback loop.

With a dedicated programme engagement team, a consultative approach to onboarding and implementation and a network of healthcare partners offering opportunities for collaboration and sharing best practice, ImproveWell’s holistic workforce engagement system for improvement offers a new way to drive change. For further information, please visit www.improvewell.com.

For further information please contact:

hello@improvewell.com
020 3475 0670