Quality Improvement Zone

Laura Allison - Associate Director Quality Improvement, NHS Education for Scotland
Laura is responsible for overseeing the delivery of all nationally taught quality improvement training and development programmes. She has over 25 years’ experience working as a registered nurse, and since 2011 has focused on building capacity and capability in the Scottish workforce using quality improvement as a method to embed change. During this time, she has worked across territorial and national health boards, Scottish Government, Criminal Justice, Education and third sector organisations. 

She established the Scottish Improvement Leader programme in 2014 and continues to work as faculty delivering on all national programmes. She trained as an Improvement Advisor with the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) in 2010, has a master’s degree in Systems Thinking, and is an accredited Executive Coach.

Kim Britton
Senior Educator, Quality Improvement Team, NHS Education for Scotland
Kim is the lead for the Scottish Coaching and Leading for Improvement programme (SCLIP) for the Quality Improvement Team and also works across all QI educational Programmes. She has 11 years clinical experience as a nurse, primarily working in surgical areas where she was introduced to QI methodology and led many projects. Before moving to NES QI team Kim worked as an Improvement advisor with the Patient Safety and Improvement team supporting projects, coordinating and facilitating the delivery of the SCLIP programme within NHS Dumfries and Galloway.

Emily Waite
Senior Educator, Quality Improvement Team, NHS Education for Scotland 
Emily is the lead for the Scottish Improvement Foundation Skills (SIFS) programme for the Quality Improvement Team and also works across all QI educational Programmes. She is a registered occupational therapist, with 17 years clinical experience in a range of settings, laterly specialising as a Macmillan OT and AHP practice education lead. She has led many improvement projects within the occupational therapy and specialist palliative care settings and is passionate about supporting others to improve how our public services are delivered in Scotland. 

Julia Mackel
Principal Lead, Quality Improvement Team, NHS Education for Scotland
Julia Is Principal Lead for Realistic Medicine and Value Based Health and Care and Faculty for the Scottish Quality and Safety Fellowship. She has 20 years clinical experience as a Dietitian and is passionate about continuously improving patient care. 

Previous experience includes Quality Improvement Advisor on the Scottish Patient Safety Programme (SPSP) and a QI Coaching Lead within NHS Lothian. This included developing the QI coaching network, supporting local QI training and coaching. She is a ScIL graduate (cohort 5) an accredited Lean Green Belt and is a Associate Certified Coach with the International Coaching Federation.

David Maxwell
Principal Lead, Quality Improvement Team, NHS Education for Scotland
David is the Professional Lead for the Scottish Improvement Leader (ScIL) programme, joining the team at NES after working as an improvement advisor for the Scottish Patient Safety Programme. David commenced his professional career as hospital pharmacist in Australia, specialising in infectious diseases and Quality Use of Medicines. He has led a number of state and national initiatives to improve medicines use in the acute care setting, supporting frontline staff to use quality improvement methods as part of daily practice.

Alison Keast
Senior Educator, Quality Improvement Team, NHS Education for Scotland
Ali worked as an HR Consultant for several years and transitioned into Organisational Development (OD), initially focusing on the management and delivery of national leadership programmes and learning networks.  She has also been responsible for managing the national 360 feedback tool and coaching and mentoring services and is currently part of the faculty for ScIL, SCLIP and Lead for Devolved SIFS. Ali currently has a focus on the Realistic Medicine and Value Based Health & Care agenda.  

Qualifying as a coach in 2007, she has worked with individuals and teams to harness their potential and connect with their personal values and ambitions.  This coaching approach has now been at the centre of all the QI, OD and leadership work Ali has since led on. 

Lee Kelso
Senior Specialist Lead, Quality Improvement Team, NHS Education for Scotland
Lee joined the QI Team in July 2022 and delivers across a range of QI educational programmes. She has an Exercise Physiology background, working with local authorities and health boards to increase movement in those who found it hardest to be physically active, with a particular interest in strength and balance and falls prevention. Then a move to the Care Inspectorate, becoming an Improvement Adviser as part of the Scottish Government funded Care About Physical Activity Improvement programme (CAPA).

She also provided quality improvement support to several programmes within the Care Inspectorate, including leading the development of a quality assurance framework for Appropriate Adults.  Lee is a ScIL graduate (Cohort 28) and is an EFQM Assessor. 

Shobhan Thakore 
Associate Medical Director for Quality Management, NHS Tayside
Consultant in Emergency Medicine, NHS Tayside 
Clinical Lead, Scottish Quality and Safety Fellowship Programme, Quality Improvement Team, NHS Education for Scotland
Shobhan is an Emergency Medicine Consultant and  Associate Medical Director for Quality Management in NHS Tayside where he helps to shape future service configuration by ensuring improvement science expertise supports operational teams. 

As Clinical Lead for the Scottish Quality & Safety Fellowship programme his aim is to enhance the expertise of Fellows so that their skills are recognised as essential in meeting the challenge to deliver excellent care at an affordable cost. This includes training in technical improvement skills but also leadership training that helps participants understand the importance of team engagement and the psychology of change.
 

Sarah Bennie
Specialist Educator, Quality Improvement Team, NHS Education for Scotland
Sarah worked in NHS Lothian for several years as an Associate Quality Improvement Advisor for Primary Care before joining the team in January 2025. Her previous role involved coordinating the QI & Safety Enhanced Service in Lothian, supporting GP practices to undertake quality improvement work as part of the Scottish Enhanced Service Programme (SESP). Before joining NHS Lothian, Sarah worked with adults with autism and learning difficulties. Sarah is looking forward to building on her learning from ScIL (42) in her role supporting both external and internal QI capability within NES.

Ben Harvey
Technological Education Lead, Quality Improvement Team, NHS Education for Scotland
Ben is the lead for QI digital learning, working on the development and management of learning resources across QI programmes. He has been working in education since 2010, as a teacher and then on a range of online learning projects. Ben joined NES in 2019 and worked on accelerated programmes at NHS Scotland Academy before joining the QI team in 2024. He is interested in the science of learning and the application of new tools and technologies in education. 

Shannon Farrell
Learning Technologist, Quality Improvement Team, NHS Education for Scotland
Shannon is a Learning Technologist supporting the Quality Improvement team's development and delivery of learning resources for Realistic Medicine and Value Based Health and Care. Prior to joining NES, Shannon worked across tertiary education, most recently at Glasgow Caledonian University as a digital learning designer and facilitator. She also has experience in managing professional programmes, apprenticeships and online degrees

Lewis Allan
Senior Admin Officer, Quality Improvement Team, NHS Education for Scotland
Lewis is a Senior Admin Officer in the Quality Improvement Team, supporting the development of content for the QI Zone and QI learning programmes. Prior to joining the team, Lewis worked as a Knowledge Support Officer, within the NES Knowledge Services team. Supporting the provision of digital library services to staff across NHS Scotland, developing promotional materials and hosting webinars on “The Knowledge Network” platform. Lewis is committed to further developing his video editing and web design skills as well as contributing to NES with his background in knowledge discovery.

Teresa Genovese
Safety and Improvement Administrator, Quality Improvement Team, NHS Education for Scotland 
Teresa started working with the Quality Improvement team in October 2019 within the role of  administrator, taking on administration for QI programmes and updating the TURAS system. Before working for NES she worked for a private investment bank for 10 years and has extensive experience in customer relationship management.  Always looking to improve her own personal development she completed the SIFS programme and continues to do training to update and maintain her QI knowledge.

Ruth Mackie
Senior Officer, Quality Improvement Team, NHS Education for Scotland 
Ruth is a Senior Officer in the Quality Improvement Team supporting the delivery of QI Taught programmes. She has been working in the QI team since mid 2019 and before that was a part of the Property and Facilities department in NES for 14 years. This experience and knowledge of the organisation has been invaluable to the team and she enjoys learning more about how Quality Improvement is improving outcomes for the people of Scotland.

Janice Walker
Business Partner, Quality Improvement Team, NHS Education for Scotland 
Janice is a Business Partner within the QI team. Her role focuses on finance and communications and also includes leading the Business Support Portfolio. Prior to this role she worked within NES as Team Leader in Training Management based in Glasgow. She has successfully completed the Scottish Coaching and Leading for Improvement Programme (SCLIP) and is enjoying using Quality Improvement methodology in her role.

Robin Black
Admin Officer, Quality Improvement Team, NHS Education for Scotland
Robin is an Admin Officer in the Quality Improvement Team supporting the delivery of QI programmes including ScIL, SCLIP and SIFs.  Robin is returning to the NHS from the admin team in a shopworker’s union, helping members to navigate the issues brought by Covid-19. Previously, she worked for NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde in a variety of admin roles, from front desk to senior management support. Robin is ready to take on the challenge ahead of her, learning about QI methodology and the opportunity to build on her current skills, knowledge and confidence within an all teach, all learn environment.

Ross Hope
Admin Officer, Quality Improvement Team, NHS Education for Scotland
Ross is an Admin Officer in the Quality Improvement Team supporting the delivery of QI programmes including ScIL and SCLIP.  Prior to joining NES, Ross worked in NHS Borders Vaccination Department, recording and reporting COVID-19 Vaccination uptake throughout the pandemic. Ross also responded to queries and complaints from elected representatives and members of the public throughout this time. Ross is enthusiastic about continuing to strengthen his data reporting knowledge and contributing to NES with his written communication skills. 

Penny Fairbairn
Senior Project Officer, Quality Improvement Team and Programme Management Office, NHS Education for Scotland
Penny is a Senior Project Officer within the Programme Management Office supporting different projects. Penny also works in the wider Quality Improvement Team where she supports the Continuous Improvement Portfolio and Business Support activity. Prior to joining NES Penny worked in NHS Dumfries and Galloway in the Strategic Planning and Transformation Directorate. 

Content last updated February 2025