Clifford Hughes Clinical Oncology Society of Australia Annual Scientific Meeting 2017

Clifford Hughes

Professor Cliff Hughes is the President of the International Society for Quality in Health Care. He is Professor of Patient Safety and Clinical Quality at Macquarie University. Previously he was the Chief Executive Officer of the Clinical Excellence Commission, NSW. This appointment followed a 25-year career as a cardiothoracic surgeon in Sydney. He has been chairman or member of numerous state and federal committees associated with quality, safety and research in clinical practice for health care services. He has held various positions in the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, including Senior Examiner in Cardiothoracic Surgery and member of the College Council. In October 2015 he was awarded the Sir Hugh Devine Medal, the highest honour bestowed by the College. Professor Hughes has served on four editorial boards and has published widely in books, journals and conference proceedings on cardiothoracic surgery, quality and safety. He has a particular passion for patient based care, better incident management, quality improvement programmes and the development of clinical leaders. He has received a number of awards for his national and international work including an Alumni Award from the University of NSW. He has led five medical teams to China and has performed cardiac surgery in Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, India and Bangladesh. In 1998, he was made an Officer in the Order of Australia (AO) in recognition of his contributions and “service to cardiac surgery, international relationships and the community”. In June 2014, the University of NSW conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Science, its highest academic award. He has been appointed to the Board of the Medstar Institute for Quality and Safety in Washington DC, USA. He is an Advisor to the WHO Policy Roundtable on Quality in Health Services. He holds a position as Consultant in Quality and Safety in Healthcare with Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust and is a “Visiting Eminent Scholar and Senior Clinical Advisor” with the Patient Safety Domain NHS England. He is also a Visiting Professor at Imperial College, London. His enduring passion is for Patient Safety and Quality Improvement.