Improvement Advisor Professional Development Programme: United Kingdom

Amar Shah, MD, Prof Amar Shah is the National Clinical Director for Improvement in England, leading the application of continuous quality improvement across England's health and care system. 

Amar led the quality approach at East London NHS Foundation Trust (ELFT) for 15 years, from 2011 to 2026 – including over a decade on the Board and executive team as the country's first Chief Quality Officer. Through this work, Amar embedded a large-scale quality improvement infrastructure and quality management system, with demonstrable results across key areas of organisational performance, and three consecutive 'Outstanding' ratings by the Care Quality Commission.

He is the national improvement lead for mental health at the Royal College of Psychiatrists, chairs the IHI's Scientific Advisory Group and is an honorary professor at the University of York School for Business and Society.

Rebecca Steinfield, MA, Senior Director and Improvement Advisor, has been with IHI since 1996.  She currently serves as Director of IHI’s Improvement Advisor Professional Development Program, teaches IHI courses on improvement methods, and mentors “improvers-in-training.” Rebecca sits on IHI’s Improvement Science and Methods team and serves as an Improvement Advisor on results-oriented work. 

Susan Hannah, Senior Director for Europe Region and Strategic Partners, Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), has a background in high-care nursing and expertise as a leader for patient safety and clinical improvement in Scottish healthcare, responsible for the delivery of patient safety in a health system and as faculty for the national programme. A trained Improvement Advisor with IHI, she worked in the Scottish Government for 6 years, performing improvement and leadership roles to influence the adoption of quality strategies and improvement science in government policy teams and across public services. Susan led the design and delivery of a national Raising Attainment for All QI Collaborative for education, later amalgamating this with the Early Years Collaborative to establish and lead the Children and Young People Improvement Collaborative; a large-scale national programme that delivers multiagency quality improvement communities working to improve health and achievement outcomes across Scotland.​

David M. Williams, PhD, Improvement Advisor, DMW Austin, is a scholar-practitioner in the science of improvement. He serves as Improvement Advisor for large Breakthrough Series Collaboratives, and large national and health care system-wide improvement initiatives worldwide. A paramedic by background, Dr. Williams practiced in urban EMS systems for many years and is an international expert on paramedic care and emergency medical services systems. 

He is a 2013 alumni of the Leadership Austin Essentials program and served as Vice Chairman of the Board for CommUnityCare in Austin, Texas, one of the largest federally qualified health centers in the US. Prior to joining IHI, he led a consulting practice focused on improvement science and expert consulting in education, public safety, and health care.