The Appraisal Panel considers the Health Technology Wales appraisal evidence within the context of NHS and social care in Wales, and produces the HTW guidance. The panel also helps us to identify important topics, evaluates the uptake of guidance and facilitates stakeholder engagement. Current members are listed below.
Professor Peter Groves
Appraisal Panel Chair
Consultant Interventional Cardiologist, Health Technology Wales Chair
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Peter is a Consultant Interventional Cardiologist at the University Hospital of Wales. He is also Chair of the MHRA Devices Expert Advisory Committee and the NICE Medical Technologies Advisory Committee, and has a great interest in the regulation and health technology assessment of innovative medical devices in the context of the UK NHS. Peter is committed to teaching and research, and has published widely on the scientific basis for medical technology development and utilisation.
Dr Andrew Champion
Appraisal Panel Deputy Chair
Assistant Director, Evidence Evaluation and Effectiveness
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Andrew has worked in the NHS for almost 30 years, covering a wide range of research and managerial roles. A strong interest in evidence-based medicine led to his appointment in 2003 as Manager/Director of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) clinical guideline programme. In 2016 Andrew took up his current role at the Welsh Health Specialised Services Committee (WHSSC), where he is now enhancing the evidence-based decision making approach across the organisation.
Alan Meudell
Public Partner
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Over the past 19 years, Alan has worked with a variety of organisations and has built up an extensive knowledge and experience of how public and patient involvement can benefit policy, practice and service design across all sectors. He is currently co-investigator on a research study at Cardiff University and is advising on developing public and patient involvement for a research initiative in India and Pakistan.
Andy Smallwood
Assistant Director of Procurement, NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership
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Andy has worked within procurement management for over 25 years. Having undertaken national roles within NHS England, Andy has spent the past 10 years at NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership As Head of Sourcing and more recently as Assistant Director of Procurement. A strong believer of evidence-based procurement, Andy is the founder of the Orthopaedic Data Evaluation Panel and a co-opted member of the National Joint Registry Steering Committee.
Professor Chris Hopkins
Consultant Clinical Scientist and Head of the TriTech Institute, Hywel Dda University Health Board
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Professor Chris Hopkins is a Consultant Clinical Scientist and Head of the TriTech Institute in Hywel Dda University Health Board. Chris is also a Clinical Director within the University of Wales Trinity Saint David. Chris is a Fellow of the Academy for Healthcare Science and was recently awarded the Excellence in Healthcare Science Research and Innovation Award at the NHS England Chief Scientific Officer’s Excellence in Healthcare Science Awards 2022.
Debbie Laubach
Operations Manager, MediWales
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Debbie oversees all event organisation and activities at MediWales and frequently engages with members. She creates and facilitates relationships across the sector, assisting in collaboration and understanding the needs of the life science community.
Dr James Risley
Deputy Executive Medical Director, Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board
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James is the Deputy Executive Medical Director for Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board. An Emergency Medicine consultant, he is dual-qualified in law and has an Executive MBA. He has an interest in innovation and entrepreneurship, with a focus on how to improve patient care through healthcare technology.
Dr Jared Torkington
Consultant Colorectal Surgeon, Cardiff & Vale UHB
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Jared is a Consultant Surgeon in Cardiff & Vale University Health Board. His clinical and research interests include Bowel Cancer and Laparoscopic Surgery. He was appointed Associate Medical Director for Innovation to support the new collaboration with Cardiff University in the field of Clinical Innovation. He chairs the novel Multidisciplinary Team approach to Clinical Innovation.
Jeffrey Stephens
Consultant Diabetologist. Swansea Bay UHB
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Jeff Stephens is Clinical Professor of Diabetes at Swansea University and Consultant Physician in Diabetes, Endocrinology and General Medicine at Morriston Hospital. He is actively involved in teaching/research and remains a practicing physician. He is a member of the Diabetes UK Committee of Healthcare Professionals and Chaired the Diabetes UK Professional Conference Organising Committee for 2020 and 2021. He has also held leadership roles in Medical Education and has over 180 peer-reviewed research publications.
Lee Davies
Executive Director of Strategy and Planning, Hywel Dda UHB
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Lee has worked for NHS Wales for 18 years, having joined the NHS Wales Graduate Leadership Development Scheme after graduating from Cardiff University where he studied physics.
He held operational management positions in Swansea NHS Trust and Abertawe Bro Morgannwg UHB before taking on a performance improvement role with the NHS Wales Delivery and Support Unit. In 2013, he joined Cardiff and Vale UHB and became Operational Planning Director three years later.
Lee has a wealth of experience of working with clinical teams to deliver transformational change for the benefit of patient care. A recent example was the establishment of CAV 24/7, a new approach to how patients access urgent care within the Cardiff and Vale UHB. He has a particular interest in the use of data and analytics to support service improvement and redesign.
Dr Lisa Trigg
Assistant Director, Research, Data and Intelligence, Social Care Wales
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Lisa’s role is to support the social care sector in Wales with evidence and research to inform policy and service design. Before joining Social Care Wales, Lisa spent seven years at the London School of Economics conducting comparative research on long-term care systems. Her PhD research explored approaches to quality in residential care. Before this, Lisa spent seventeen years in management and consulting roles in Australia and the UK.
Louise Baker
Project Lead, Innovation and Adoption Team, Life Sciences Hub Wales
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Louise works as a Project Lead within the Innovation and Adoption Team focussing on Digital, artificial intelligence and Robotics. She has 23 years of experience working in Local Authority Health and Social Care front line services. This includes spending nine years as a Telecare and Technology-Enabled Care Developer, managing telecare and remote monitoring services and delivering service change within an integrated health and social care community team setting Louise has also worked closely with industry to design new technology to support health and social care challenge and promoting the use of technology within the community via training programmes.
Luella Trickett
Director, Association of British HealthTech Industries
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Luella joined ABHI in 2019, with over 25 years' experience in the pharmaceutical and HealthTech industries. Her career has seen her hold numerous specialist manufacturing and commercial roles at Baxter Healthcare, with responsibility for a range of product portfolios across the HealthTech spectrum within the UK, Europe, Middle East and Africa.
Maria Selby
Principal Officer Children Services, Social Services Health and Housing, Neath Civic Centre
Mohid Khan
Consultant Gastroenterologist, Cardiff & Vale University Health Board
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Mohid is a Consultant Gastroenterologist in Cardiff & Vale UHB. He has led the transformation of the Neuroendocrine Cancer Service in South Wales through a Value Based approach focusing on patient reported outcomes and experience, achieving European Centre of Excellence status. He has had leadership roles in a variety of digital healthcare, innovation and clinical research projects at local, national and international levels.
Phil Barnes
Head of Sector Intelligence, Life Sciences Hub Wales
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Dr. Phil Barnes leads the Sector Intelligence Team at Life Sciences Hub Wales, providing market analytics and business planning services to both Health Boards and SMEs. With a technical background in molecular neuroscience and Alzheimer’s Disease, Phil has previously worked in the technology transfer and investment banking sectors.
Rhidian Hurle
Executive Medical Director, DHCW
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Rhidian was appointed Chief Clinical Information Officer for Wales in 2015 and is also the Medical Director of Digital Health Care Wales. He continues part time clinical practice as an NHS Consultant Surgeon working in Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Heath Board specialising in urological oncology. Rhidian holds a masters with distinction in Digital Health Leadership and is a Founding Fellow of the Faculty of Clinical Informatics. He has a keen interest in the use of technology as an enabler of high quality health care delivery with a particular focus on user interfaces and is committed to the use of technology to drive through improvements in the quality and efficiency of healthcare.
Dr Rhodri Davies
Cardiology Consultant at the University Hospital of Wales
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Rhodri is a Cardiology Consultant at the University Hospital of Wales and as Associate Clinical Professor at the Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences, University College London. He has a background in computer science and machine learning and his main research interests are in translating AI methods to clinical care to improve patient management and gain new insight into disease.
Dr Susan Myles
Director, Health Technology Wales
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Susan has been engaged in applied health technology assessment for 25 years. Before joining Health Technology Wales, she led the development and work of the Scottish Health Technologies Group. Susan has received scholarships from the Department of Health and Medical Research Council, and is a previous recipient of a Harkness Fellowship in Health Care Policy. She holds qualifications in Economics (BA), Health Economics (MSc & PhD) and Epidemiology (PgDip).
Dr Tom Crosby
Consultant Oncologist, Velindre Cancer Centre
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Tom is Medical Director of the Wales Cancer Network, Clinical Lead of Clinical Systems Transformation at Velindre Cancer Centre. He is based in Velindre Cancer Centre and currently specialises in upper gastrointestinal cancer; Tom is a leader in Upper Gastrointestinal Oesophageal Chemo-radiotherapy Research, Service and Development in the UK. Tom is also currently the clinical lead for the Transformation of Cancer Services Programme in South East Wales.
The Appraisal Panel includes senior representatives from every local health board and partners from social care in Wales, alongside other key stakeholders. To learn more about the purpose of the group, see the Health Technology Wales Appraisal Panel Terms of Reference.
