The Health Services Consultative Committee (HSCC) has appointed six new members to its team for a term of three years.

The appointments have been made to ‘help gather feedback and experiences of service users and patients across healthcare services’, with the number of members within the HSCC now increasing from three to ten.

These members report to the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and Manx Care its observations and recommendations on how to improve services within the island.

Lillian Boyle, Quintin Gill, Juliet Holt, Adrian Kermode, Jo Overty and Ian Townsend are the six new members to have joined the committee.

Lillian Boyle is currently the chair of the island’s Financial Services Authority and deputy chair of a UK grant making charity. Previously, she has been the Chair of the Isle of Man Research Ethics Committee and the UK Multiple Sclerosis Society Audit and Risk Committee.

Ms Boyle said: ‘I have a lot personal experience of caring and the healthcare system through family and other organisations. I hope that by being part of the work of the HSCC I can help provide the necessary feedback and insight to continue to develop the right services for our community.’

Quintin Gill is a former politician, probation officer and social worker, who is currently employed by local charity Live at Home.

Following a career in marketing and HR, Juliet Holt was the first woman to chair the Isle of Man branch of the Institute of Marketing, and was a Governor of King William’s College and the Buchan School.

Adrian Kermode has business experience on-island and in the UK, including in the motor industry having set up a multi franchise local dealer group. He was previously a member of the Isle of Man planning committee.

Jo Overty was a newspaper journalist and editor who went on to work in communications and event and project management for the Isle of Man Government, before running the Isle of Man’s UNESCO Biosphere designation.

Ian Townsend, founder and director of Bespoke Tuition IOM, has a ‘keen’ interest in health and fitness, with experience of various health services in the island.

Mr Townsend said: ‘I’m really looking forward to providing feedback to both Manx Care and the DHSC from a customer viewpoint. Particularly, it would be great to see a further reduction in waiting lists and better communication with patients.’

Minister for Health and Social Care, Lawrie Hooper MHK, added: ‘Following the recent HSCC transformation to focus on making sure that patient voices and experiences are heard, we were keen to attract a range of experienced professionals.

‘We were really pleased to receive 20 applications for the posts, and it was very tough to narrow down the high quality applicants to just these six members.

‘I’d like to welcome them to the committee, and I look forward to working with them to continually improve and modernise our health and social care services.’