Leading through Uncertainty

Julie Highfield

Consultant Clinical Psychologist ,

Dr Julie Highfield is a Consultant Clinical Psychologist & Lead for Organisational Health in Adult and Paediatric Critical Care, Cardiff. She is the National Project Director for Wellbeing in the Intensive Care Society. She has a long experience of working as a psychologist in medical and health care settings and works closely with staff in their experience of working in healthcare, as well as advising managers on matters of workforce wellbeing. Julie has worked with the British Psychological Society and its Division of Clinical Psychology in Wales. She led the BPS team writing the National Guidance for Staff in the Coronavirus Pandemic.

Julie works with the Welsh Assembly Government in various projects, including as the lead for Critical Care Workforce Task and Finish Group, and Modelling for Rehabilitation for patients post COVID-19, and the Wellbeing Conversation Tool. She has a number of publications and book chapters in the field of critical care, staff wellbeing, and leadership.

 

: @DrJulie_H

Steve Mathieu

ICS President and Consultant Intensivist and Anaesthetist,

Steve Mathieu is the President of the Intensive Care Society.

He is a Consultant in Critical Care at Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust and the Divisional Director for Clinical Delivery (Critical Care, Anaesthetics, Theatres, Radiology, Pharmacy, Therapies, Blood Sciences and Pathology). He was previously the Clinical Director of Critical Care when the ICU was rated outstanding in all domains by the CQC.

His previous roles for the Society include Congress Director for State of the Art (SOA), Honorary Treasurer and Council Member.

He has interests in patient and staff experience, workforce and operational strategy as well as medical education and information technology. He is a co-founder and senior editor for The Bottom Line and set up and maintains the Portsmouth ICU website.

Twitter: @stevemathieu75

: @stevemathieu75

Sandy Mather

Chief Executive, Intensive Care Society

Sandy began her career as a radiographer, which led to her undertaking a PhD in Child Health. Making the decision to move away from a clinical setting, Sandy gained a wealth of experience operating at a senior management level, leading strategy and change programmes for non profit organisations and membership bodies particularly those involved in professional education, training, standards, research and international development.  Sandy joined the Society in 2017.

: www.ics.ac.uk
: @sanmather

Michaela Jones

Lead Nurse Associate Director and ICS Nursing Professional Advisory Group, Chair.,

Michaela joined North West London ACC Network as Lead Nurse /Associate Director at the end of January 2024 having spent almost 6 years as a matron at Southampton University Hospital Cardiac ICU. She has worked in critical care for over three decades where much of her career has been at UCLH and Cambridge.

Michaela has always had a passion for education, training, workforce and leadership.

Michaela is an elected council member at the Society and chair of the Society’s Nurse Professional Advisory Group. She is a member of the Critical Care National Network Nurse Leads Forum (CC3N), Critical Care Nurse Education Review Forum, a subgroup of CC3N and a member of UK Critical Care Nursing Alliance.

: @sisterswan

Segun Olusanya

Consultant Intensivist,

Segun is a newly appointed Intensive Care Consultant at St Bartholomew’s Hospital, London, with special interests in extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), clinician wellbeing, point of care ultrasound, equality/diversity/inclusion, and online education. His real claim to fame is running an award winning wedding cake and confectionery business with his wife, Fehintola; he primarily functions as Chief Taster, and occasional Dish Washer.

: @iceman_ex

Nicki Credland

Nurse and Reader in Critical Care and Chair of BACCN,

Nicki Credland is a Reader in Critical Care and Head of School at the University of Hull. She is a National Teaching Fellow and Chair of the British Association of Critical Care Nurses (BACCN). Her role is to provide vision, direction, leadership and to develop strategy. This involves strategic leadership at a national level, chairing the executive board and national board. She holds positions on the National Critical Care Leadership forum, UK Critical Care Nursing Alliance and the Adult Critical Care Clinical Reference Group and is a specialist advisor in critical care nursing to NHSE. Involved in national and international research and education for critical care nursing Nicki was appointed Director for Nurse Education at the NHS Nightingale Hospital Yorkshire and the Humber during the Covid pandemic.

: @Credland_nicki

Sarah Wallace

Consultant Speech and Language Therapist,

Sarah Wallace OBE FRCSLT is a Consultant Speech and Language Therapist (SLT) at Wythenshawe Hospital in Manchester and honorary senior lecturer at the University of Manchester. She specialises in Critical Care and has over 30 years of clinical experience as an SLT. After training in Manchester, Sarah has worked in hospitals and Non-Government Organisations in the UK, Singapore, Grenada (WI) and Cambodia. Whilst working clinically in cardiothoracic, ECMO and general critical care in Manchester, she also teaches and conducts research internationally, focussing on laryngeal injury, dysphagia and communication issues post intubation and tracheostomy. She has over 60 publications, several top cited articles winning awards from the BMJ and the ICS. She holds expert advisor roles with the Intensive Care Society (ICS), the National Tracheostomy Safety Project and the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RCSLT) and has contributed to many policies, guidelines and initiatives including GPICS, FEES, NCEPOD and the ICS National Rehabilitation Collaborative. Sarah is also an Associate Editor for JICS. She has pioneered new treatments for laryngeal recovery in ICU, setting up the first FEES service in Asia and the UK and supports SLT service development in the UK, Sweden and Chile.