Speakers

We are pleased to announce our line-up of speakers for this year's conference.

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Adam Kay, best-selling author 'This is Going to Hurt'

Adam Kay is an award-winning comedian, TV writer, and Sunday Times bestselling author and columnist.

In between tour dates and book festivals, Adam is in huge demand for corporate events and parties. He brings his experiences to life as a speaker, giving a humorous, inspiring, fascinating performance.

He is a consummate Corporate performer, having entertained at private events such as Prince Harry's 30th birthday at Buckingham Palace, for Deloitte, The British Medical Association, Soho House, and Imperial College, to name a few.

With sell-out UK and International tours, West End and Edinburgh Festival Fringe seasons, Adam’s cutting-edge, dark humour has gained him a cult following throughout the UK.

Nigel Hartley, Chief Executive Mountbatten Group

Nigel has worked in end-of-life care for almost 30 years, between 2003 and 2015 as Director of Supportive Care at the St Christopher’s Group, London where was responsible for transforming day and outpatient services, developing volunteers and also leading on Community Engagement.

He previously held posts at London Lighthouse, a Centre for those living with HIV/AIDS, and also at Sir Michael Sobell House Hospice in Oxford. He has a postgraduate qualification in management from Ashridge Business School, England and has an international reputation as a teacher and lecturer.

Nigel is also an experienced published writer having authored numerous articles, chapters and books. His books include ‘End of Life Care – a guide for therapists, artists and arts therapists’ (2014), and the latest edited publication ‘Spirituality in Hospice Care’ (2017) both published by Jessica Kingsley Publications.

Nigel also sits on the Editorial Board of the journal ‘Mortality’ – which promotes the interdisciplinary study of death and dying. He is a visiting Academic at the University of Southampton and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

Tracey Bleakley, Chief Executive Hospice UK

Tracey joined Hospice UK in January 2016 and before then was CEO of the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners.

Her previous roles include Chief Executive of the Personal Education Group (pfeg) where she led a successful campaign for financial education to be included in the National Curriculum.

She was also UK Director of the charity MEND, which tackles obesity and promotes health living, and spent 13 years in management consultancy with Price Waterhouse, Accenture and ITV.

Tracey is currently a trustee of Independent Age. She holds an engineering degree, MBA, postgraduate qualifications in International and Social Policy and is a Chartered Director.

Dame Barbara Monroe

Professor Dame Barbara Monroe DBE, FRSA, CQSW (born 1951) is a British social worker and hospital chief executive.

She began working at St Christopher's Hospice in 1987, rising to the position of Chief Executive in 2000 and retiring in 2014.

She served as chair of the United Kingdom's national Childhood Bereavement Network for eight years.

She is an Honorary Professor at Lancaster University's International Observatory on End of Life Care, and is an Honorary Senior Lecturer at the University of Auckland.

She was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2010 Birthday Honours. She is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA).

Dr Barbara Gale

Barbara was appointed Chief Executive of St Nicholas Hospice Care in Bury St Edmunds Suffolk in 2007 and has qualifications in Nursing, Specialist Palliative Care and Systemic Family Therapy; she is also a Visiting Senior Fellow in End of Life Care, Department of Nursing Studies at University Campus Suffolk.

Barbara has been involved with Hospices since 1981 when she first started working at Sir Michael Sobell House in Oxford. She completed the Masters in Hospice Leadership in 2010 and is in the final year of a PhD in Palliative Care at Lancaster University. Her thesis explores the stories of community hospice volunteers who are visiting patients in the community who are at the end of life.

Barbara is currently implementing a strategy for St Nicholas Hospice Care that concentrates on delivering an open access service for all. The strategy emphasises partnership working and delivering a community-focused service using a flexible workforce and volunteers.

Dr Sam Kyeremateng, Medical Director St Luke's Hospice

Originally from Dundee, Sam completed his initial medical training in Aberdeen in 1998. He moved to Sheffield in 1999, and began working in palliative medicine in 2002.

Sam has been a Consultant at St Luke’s since 2008 and became Medical Director in 2013. His role was further expanded in 2018, to reflect his role leading the development of new and innovative clinical services at St Luke’s.

Sam has been fundamental in the development of St Luke’s as a centre for specialist palliative care research. Sam is a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh and a Clinical Leader for end of life care in the Yorkshire and Humber Clinical Network in South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw. In 2018, he was appointed as the Training Programme Director for Palliative Medicine for Yorkshire and Humber, responsible for overseeing the training programme for palliative care trainees throughout the Yorkshire and Humber region.