The QICN Organisational Membership - Members' Area

Lorraine Galligan is a highly respected and experienced healthcare leader who has been a registered nurse since 1994 and has worked extensively in community healthcare for over 30 years. She currently serves as Chief Nursing Officer at Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, where she leads with a deep commitment to clinical excellence, workforce development, and compassionate leadership. Lorraine is a member of the CNO England Strategic Advisory Group and a proud Queen’s Nurse.

Of Irish heritage and proudly raised in Birmingham, Lorraine is deeply passionate about the local community and dedicated to improving the health and wellbeing of the people she serves. A Registered District Nurse and District Nurse Practice Teacher, she has held a wide range of senior roles including Matron, General Manager, Divisional Director of Nursing and Allied Health Professionals, and Deputy Chief Nurse. These roles have shaped her strategic insight and operational expertise across complex healthcare systems.

Lorraine is passionate about delivering care that is safe, personalised, and compassionate. She is driven to ensure that the patient voice is heard—so that the experiences of individuals and the impact of care are fully understood and used to shape service improvement. She has also led the development of safe staffing models for community nursing, ensuring services are sustainably resourced to meet the needs of patients and staff alike.

Her leadership is grounded in collaboration, inclusion, and a relentless focus on improving outcomes for patients, carers, and communities. Outside of work, Lorraine finds joy and balance in spending time with her family and friends.

Denise Thiruchelvam is an experienced nurse leader whose career spans community nursing, public health, executive nursing leadership and national system roles.

She began her career as a Registered Nurse before qualifying as a Health Visitor and Registered Specialist Public Health Practitioner, working across A&E, health protection, children’s services, commissioning, local government, arms length bodies  and population health.

She has held senior roles including Chief Nurse in community organisations across Surrey, Executive Lead for Quality and Assurance for the North West Surrey Alliance, and most recently Chief Nursing Officer at NHS Blood and Transplant. Her portfolio has included national leadership for quality, governance, patient and donor safety, safeguarding, infection prevention and control, and the organisational response to the Infected Blood Inquiry. Denise has also served for eight years as an Independent Registrant on the Nursing and Midwifery Council’s Fitness to Practise Investigating Committee.

A Queen’s Nurse and Visiting Professor at the University of Surrey, Denise brings a strong commitment to community nursing, professional leadership and improving outcomes for people and populations.

She is mum to three young children, enjoys being outdoors, and is determined to read one of the books at her local mum’s book club.

Denise Thiruchelvam is an experienced nurse leader whose career spans community nursing, public health, executive nursing leadership and national system roles.

She began her career as a Registered Nurse before qualifying as a Health Visitor and Registered Specialist Public Health Practitioner, working across A&E, health protection, children’s services, commissioning, local government, arms length bodies  and population health.

She has held senior roles including Chief Nurse in community organisations across Surrey, Executive Lead for Quality and Assurance for the North West Surrey Alliance, and most recently Chief Nursing Officer at NHS Blood and Transplant. Her portfolio has included national leadership for quality, governance, patient and donor safety, safeguarding, infection prevention and control, and the organisational response to the Infected Blood Inquiry. Denise has also served for eight years as an Independent Registrant on the Nursing and Midwifery Council’s Fitness to Practise Investigating Committee.

A Queen’s Nurse and Visiting Professor at the University of Surrey, Denise brings a strong commitment to community nursing, professional leadership and improving outcomes for people and populations.

She is mum to three young children, enjoys being outdoors, and is determined to read one of the books at her local mum’s book club.

Anca Manea is a Queen’s Nurse, NICHE Alumna Research Fellow, and Community Learning Disabilities Nurse working within the Norwich Adult Learning Disabilities Team at Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust. She holds a Master’s degree in Advanced Professional Practice and a BSc (Hons) in Learning Disabilities Nursing (RNLD).

Anca is committed to advancing education and practice in Intellectual Disabilities Nursing. She contributed to the teaching of Undergraduate Midwifery students and supported the Advanced Postgraduate Intellectual Disabilities Module at the University of East Anglia, sharing her expertise to improve inclusive maternity care.

Her work on the Norfolk Antenatal Pathway for Women and Birthing People with Intellectual Disabilities has received national recognition, including the NHS England and ICCHNR Research Award (2022) and the NHS East of England ‘Innovation in Your Specialty’ Award (2024). In 2025, she was named a finalist for the Nursing Times Awards. Anca has also presented her work at national and international specialist conferences.

A passionate advocate for people with Intellectual Disabilities, Anca is dedicated to improving antenatal and postnatal care and to enhancing community-based services through research, education, and clinical leadership.

Ben is an internationally recognised clinical academic community nurse. He is an Assistant Professor of Primary Care at the University of Cambridge and an Honorary Nurse Consultant in Palliative Care. Ben leads a programme of interdisciplinary research focused on improving care for patients dying at home, incorporating the voices and experiences of patients, families and clinical care teams.

In 2023, he was recognised as one of the 75 nurses and midwives whose work has had a particularly significant impact on the NHS since its creation. He is a Fellow of the Queen’s Institute of Community Nursing and received the RCGP and Society for Academic Primary Care Outstanding Early Career Researcher Award 2024 for his exceptional contributions to primary care research.

Daisy Jacobs is an Advanced Clinical Practitioner at St Nicholas Hospice Care in Bury St Edmunds and leads the Hospice’s Out‑of‑Hours (OOH) service. A Registered Nurse by background, Daisy has a strong commitment to improving palliative and end‑of‑life care through evidence‑based practice, service innovation and education, and she champions lifelong learning within clinical teams.

Daisy was awarded and has now completed an NIHR ARC East of England Impact Fellowship, which focused on developing and expanding the Families Administering Medications (FAM) programme. FAM enables trained family carers to administer symptom‑control medications at home, supporting patient choice, dignity and timely care. Her Fellowship project, Broadening awareness and further implementation of the Families Administering Medications programme across Suffolk and North East Essex Integrated Care System, centred on refining, embedding and scaling the programme through system‑wide collaboration and knowledge mobilisation, helping to establish FAM as an integrated and sustainable practice across the region.

Daisy has a background in palliative care research and holds a master’s degree. She has authored three peer‑reviewed publications, including:

• Shaping opioid conversion education in the specialist palliative care setting: a pilot study of staff experiences
• Critical incident analysis: prescribing opioids in palliative care
• Clinical reasoning and decision making within the role of a palliative care advanced clinical practitioner

Her work contributes to the evidence base around safe opioid prescribing, clinical decision‑making and workforce education within palliative care.

Daisy continues to develop her research impact and knowledge mobilisation skills, combining clinical leadership, education and service development to improve care for patients and families.

Since qualifying in 1990, Sarah has worked as a Registered General Nurse specialising in Palliative and End of Life Care, spanning over 30 years. She is currently the Professional Lead for Specialist Palliative and End of Life Care for Hertfordshire Community NHS Trust and has a passion for improving the end of life experience for all involved. Sarah has a special interest in anticipatory medicine for last days of life care and has just completed a Clinical Fellowship to research a decision aid tool she co designed with community nurses as part of a master’s degree.  The aim of the tool was to encourage a shared decision making approach with informal carers re the administration of just in case medication, as well as supporting the nurses confidence if unsure whether to administer medication. The tool was positively evaluated and will move into the next phase of study.

Denise Thiruchelvam is an experienced nurse leader whose career spans community nursing, public health, executive nursing leadership and national system roles.

She began her career as a Registered Nurse before qualifying as a Health Visitor and Registered Specialist Public Health Practitioner, working across A&E, health protection, children’s services, commissioning, local government, arms length bodies  and population health.

She has held senior roles including Chief Nurse in community organisations across Surrey, Executive Lead for Quality and Assurance for the North West Surrey Alliance, and most recently Chief Nursing Officer at NHS Blood and Transplant. Her portfolio has included national leadership for quality, governance, patient and donor safety, safeguarding, infection prevention and control, and the organisational response to the Infected Blood Inquiry. Denise has also served for eight years as an Independent Registrant on the Nursing and Midwifery Council’s Fitness to Practise Investigating Committee.

A Queen’s Nurse and Visiting Professor at the University of Surrey, Denise brings a strong commitment to community nursing, professional leadership and improving outcomes for people and populations.

She is mum to three young children, enjoys being outdoors, and is determined to read one of the books at her local mum’s book club.