Michelle White

Background

About Michelle White

Personal profile: I am an innovative, strategic-thinking medical professional with highly developed skills in international relationship building, political awareness, and diplomacy with over 5 years of full-time third sector experience with Ministries of Health, Education and Foreign affairs in Africa. I am a non-executive director of Mercy Ships International, a healthcare charity providing free surgeries, training, and infrastructure improvements in Africa. I have a PhD in implementing changes at the national level in African nations to improve the quality and safety of surgical care and assessing the cost benefit. Core competencies: • Relationship building: Experience with Ministries of Health, Education and Foreign Affairs; Presidents and First Lady’s in Africa promoting the need for equitable access to safe surgery. • Stakeholder engagement: 10 years’ experience of vertical and horizontal stakeholder engagement in international healthcare from Ministries of Health to local healthcare workers, and non-governmental organisations, academic institutions, and private sector workers and donors. • Risk management and mitigation: During West African Ebola epidemic 2014, and current Covid pandemic involved in risk management to protect employees and organisational reputation, pivot to create new opportunities and create strategies to build back stronger. • Strategy delivery & clear, confident decision-making: As Deputy Chief Medical Officer at Mercy Ships, I was responsible for implementing widescale organisational change: moving from being simply a provider of surgeries in Africa to also providing nationwide health system strengthening. I designed and delivered the overall strategic plan, succeeding in increasing revenue, training thousands of healthcare workers, and creating a return on investment of $9-62USD (depending on country-context). • Standards setting and performance management: Performance management of medical and non-medical staff from over 25 different nations in NHS and third sector; standard setting experience for medical quality and safety in NHS and internationally • Excellent written and oral communication skills: Published over 60 peer-reviewed scientific papers, regular speaker at international meetings. Recognised for my work promoting surgical safety in Africa by interview on BBC World Service (2019) and speaker invitation to the World Health Organisation 5th Global Ministerial Summit on Patient Safety (2020).