Extensions to the terms of five interim authority members of the Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority

The Department of Health has announced extensions to the terms of appointment of five Interim Authority Members of the Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority (RQIA).

The terms of appointment for the following Members have been extended from 1 November 2022 to a date not later than 31 January 2023:  Mr Neil Bodger, Finance; Professor Stuart Elborn, Medical; Miss Jacqueline McGarvey, Social Care; Miss Suzanne Rice, Legal; and Ms Bronagh Scott, Nursing Member.

The Authority Member position attracts an annual remuneration of

£6,535 with a time commitment of 2-3 days per month.

These appointments are made in accordance with the Code of Practice issued by the Commissioner for Public Appointments for Northern Ireland.

RQIA is the independent body responsible for monitoring and inspecting the availability and quality of health and social care services in Northern Ireland and encouraging improvements in the quality of those services.

The RQIA Board is made up of a Non-Executive Chair and not more than 12 Non-Executive Members.

Notes to editors: 

1. Ms Bronagh Scott registered as a nurse in 1984 having completed her studies in Northern Ireland. She specialised as a critical care nurse and worked in a number of critical care units. She has held a number of Executive Director of Nursing roles in Northern Ireland, London and Wales. While in England she chaired two Care Quality Commission inspections of large NHS Trusts. She also led the development of a national leadership programme, for senior nurses, from Black and Minority Ethnic groups. In 2015, she was appointed, by the Health Minister, as the Nurse Adviser to the Expert Independent Panel chaired by Professor Rafael Bengoa, tasked with leading an informed debate on the best configuration of Health and Social Care services in Northern Ireland. Ms Scott is a Trustee for the Charity United Response which provides community-based services for people with learning disability across England and Wales. Ms Scott currently holds one other public appointment, as Chair of the Northern Ireland Practice and Education Council for Nursing and Midwifery (NIPEC). She was appointed in December 2021. This position requires a time commitment of 45 days per year and attracts a remuneration of £11,765 per annum.  

2. Mr Neil Bodger has been involved in international managerial and company finance at senior manager or director level for over 30 years. He worked as a senior management consultant in corporate financial reconstruction and subsequently as board director of a local manufacturing company. He also has experience in strategic planning, human resources, marketing, data mining and analysis and public relations. Mr Bodger has been a panel member and chair of the Education Authority Appeals Tribunals for 20 years. He has worked as a Chair of Audit and Risk Management Committees for 22 years and was a board member of Libraries NI.  He is a Member of the Department for Communities Independent Departmental Management Board and is Chair of the Audit and Risk Assurance Committee.   Mr Bodger holds one other current public appointment with the Department of Justice.  He is Deputy Chairman and Member of the Probation Board for Northern Ireland; he is Chair of its Audit and Risk Assurance Committee.  This appointment commenced in March 2022, attracts an annual remuneration of £5,050 and has a time commitment of 1 – 2 days per month.

3. Miss Jacqueline McGarvey is a qualified Social Worker with over 35 years’ extensive experience working within Children and Families, Adult and Disability Services. Since 2016, she has been an Independent Social Work Consultant. During her career, she was appointed: by the Safeguarding Board for Northern Ireland to undertake Serious Case Management Reviews for children; as a Panel Member for National Independent Review Panel for People with a Disability by the HSE, Ireland; as an interim appointment for Non-judicial Panel Member of the Historical Institutional Abuse Statutory Redress Board.  Prior to June 2016, Miss McGarvey was Assistant Director in Health and Social Services Trusts. She previously commissioned services for children and families.  Miss McGarvey holds two other current public appointments: one with Department of Health, from 2018 as a Non–Executive (Registrant) Member of the Northern Ireland Social Care Council (NISCC); a position that requires a time commitment of 2 days per month and attracts a remuneration of £6,979 per annum.  From 2021 she was appointed as a Member of Redress Scotland for which the time commitment varies depending on need; the remuneration for this position is £390 per day.

4. Professor Stuart Elborn is Professor of Medicine and Provost and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (interim) at Queen’s University. He is responsible for planning, governance and academic performance across the University. He has particular responsibility for the delivery of the Queen's University contribution to the Belfast Region City Deal programme.  He also has responsibility for the institutional approach to equality, diversity and inclusion and climate mitigation and sustainability. His own research is focused on improving outcomes in people with chronic lung disease particularly cystic fibrosis and bronchiectasis.

5. Miss Suzanne Rice is a past President Senior of the Law Society of Northern Ireland, Council Member and former Chair of the Law Society’s Family Law Committee. She read Law and French at Queen’s University Belfast before attending the Institute of Professional Legal Studies in Belfast where she qualified as a Solicitor in 2003.  Miss Rice is a specialist Solicitor with Sarah McKeown and Company Solicitors Belfast in all aspects of Family Law, most notably Divorce and Children’s Law.  She is an Advanced Advocate as well as a Collaborative Divorce Solicitor and currently represents the Profession in ongoing Government initiatives towards improving children’s law services.  Suzanne holds one other current public appointment with Department of Justice: she was appointed to the Civil Legal Services Appeal Panel as a Presiding Member in March 2020, with remuneration of £350 per sitting of the panel and it sits every 6 to 8 weeks. 

6. Appointments to RQIA are made with the approval of the Department of Health.

7. All appointments are made on merit and political activity plays no part in the selection process. However, the Commissioner for Public Appointments for Northern Ireland requires the political activity of appointees to be published.  Of the five appointees, four have declared that they have not engaged in any political activity in the last five years. Ms Scott has declared that she engaged in canvassing, on behalf of the SDLP, in the local council elections in 2019.

8. For media enquiries please contact DoH Press Office by e-mail               pressoffice@health-ni.gov.uk   

9. Follow us on Twitter @healthdpt

10. The Executive Information Service operates an out of hours service for Media Enquiries Only between 1800hrs and 0800hrs Monday to Friday and at weekends and public holidays. The Duty Press Officer can be contacted on 028 9037 8110.

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