Healthwatch England Chair announces new National Director

Imelda comes to Healthwatch England with 20 years’ experience working in senior roles in the not-for-profit sector. Previous positions include CEO of the charity 4Children as well as Director of Policy and Public Affairs at Marie Curie Cancer Care. She was also Chief Executive of Carers UK for over a decade where she received a CBE for her services to disadvantaged people. Imelda has also held a number of non-executive positions within the health, government and charity sectors.  

Announcing the appointment, Jane Mordue said:

“I am delighted that Imelda will be joining us. She has an outstanding track record in the health and care sectors and I know her passion for ensuring services hear and act on the views of people will be a real asset.

“In just a few years the Healthwatch network has already proven how listening to people can help drive up the quality of care and, in the long-term, can help services find new, more effective ways of doing things.  

“Given the huge pressures facing our health and care services, never has it been more important to make the most of the insight the Healthwatch network has to offer. I am fully confident in Imelda’s experience and ability to help us seize this opportunity and I look forward to working with her as we put people at the heart of the big decisions ahead.”   

Imelda Redmond said:

“Throughout my career I have seen the difference it makes when the people who use services are involved in the process of designing and improving them. After all, how can services hope to create something that works for people if they don’t understand what they want and expect?

“There are indeed big challenges facing the health and care sector, but that’s one of the major reasons why I’m so excited to be joining Healthwatch. It is clear the only way the NHS and care services are going to meet these challenges is if people and clinicians work as partners, and Healthwatch provides the perfect platform to help make this happen.

“Healthwatch England has done a great job to date in supporting the development of a strong and independent network of local Healthwatch. I can’t wait to get started and help make sure the evidence we collect as a network is acted upon at a local, regional and national level.”

David Behan, Chief Executive of the Care Quality Commission and the appointing officer of Healthwatch England’s National Director, said:

“I would like to welcome Imelda as the national director of Healthwatch England.

“With her vast experience in the not-for-profit sector and the NHS, her background and values place her in a strong position to lead the important work of Healthwatch England in capturing and supporting the voices of people who use health and care services.

“Our five-year strategy places a great emphasis on the need to become an even more intelligence-driven regulator and to work towards a shared view of quality with providers and our partners. Information from and the involvement of people who use services and their carers will always be at the very core. I look forward to Healthwatch England’s support under Imelda’s direction to help us achieve this.”