Our Staff
Meet the team
Find out more about our Executive Team.
Ivana Chalmers - Chief Executive
Ivana joined Healthwatch as its Chief Executive in 2024 after working in the public sector, charities and membership organisations. She is passionate about inclusion and the importance of listening to people's experiences, to help shape the services and systems they use. As the Chief Executive, her role is to make sure the organisation is able to fulfil the goals and aims set by our volunteer-led Board, and to amplify the voices and experiences of Hertfordshire residents and bring them to health and social care decision makers for real impact and change.
Heather Aylward - Community Engagement Manager
Heather brings over 20 years of experience in community and public engagement, with a real passion for making sure people’s voices shape the services they rely on. She began her career as a police officer and also worked as a carer support worker, and that grounding in listening and advocacy has stayed with her ever since. At Healthwatch, Heather supports the Voices Huddles and the Community Assembly, creating spaces where local people can share their experiences and influence change.
Jane Brown - Quality Manager
Jane acts as the lead on quality and improvement in health and social care services across Hertfordshire and has over 10 years of experience working in this sector and prior to that 15 years in adult training and development. She manages our Enter and View programme and related quality monitoring activities.
Jennie Buckland - Head of Community Engagement & Research
Jennie joined Healthwatch Hertfordshire in 2026 as Head of Engagement and Research. She leads our work to engage communities across the county, ensuring people’s lived experiences of health and social care are heard. Working with local organisations, Jennie will ensure these experiences are used to bring about change to the services and systems people use.
Jennie brings extensive experience from working in charities, education and local government across the UK with particular expertise in disability, mental health and autism. She is committed to inclusion, co‑production and participation with a strong focus on amplifying the voices of those who are often least heard.
James Davis - Project Manager (Communications)
James joined Healthwatch Hertfordshire in 2024. He has previously worked in publishing and communications and has an ongoing career as a writer and editor. His work for Healthwatch Hertfordshire is shaped by his experiences as a carer with dyslexia and chronic mental health conditions. He is passionate about producing content that facilitates easy access to healthcare information, especially amongst disadvantaged communities.
Michelle Edgar - Communications Officer
Michelle has a background in journalism and public relations, and has written for newspapers, magazines and helped publicise Government departments, travel firms and a water company. She has also reviewed work for the National Institute for Health Research. Michelle’s role is to promote our work to the public and provide communications support to the team.
Jasia Little - Team Support Officer
Jasia joined Healthwatch Hertfordshire in June 2026 and is passionate about ensuring local people’s voices are heard and shaping improvements in health and social care. As part of the signposting team, they support individuals to share their experiences, access appropriate advice, information and support, and contribute to the team’s day to day operations and administration.
With experience across the NHS and charity sector, Jasia has worked in healthcare research, GP training support, project delivery and community health services. From this, Jasia has developed a strong understanding of health and social care services from both organisational and service-user perspectives.
Drawing on lived experience as both a carer and as a disabled person, Jasia brings insights into the barriers people face and is committed to championing more inclusive, accessible and responsible services.
Alice Lovell - Governance, Operations & Signposting Manager
After completing her degree at Bangor University, Alice started working at Healthwatch Hertfordshire in spring 2016. Since then, she has turned her hand to most things in the organisation including project work, team support, general administration and website administration. She also leads the signposting team and has a real passion for ensuring the patient experience gets heard.
Asha McDonagh - Research Officer
Asha has a BA in Sociology and a MA in Social Research Methods. She first became interested in health research through her master’s dissertation which focused on the experiences of women with breast cancer post-mastectomy. Asha acts as a Research Officer, working on a range of projects that engage service users and is passionate about improving the health and social care of people from all different walks of life.
Anna Szyszkowska - Research and Community Engagement Support Officer
Anna joined Healthwatch Hertfordshire in June 2026, bringing experience from the non-profit sector, where she coordinated projects, managed volunteers and delivered community engagement programmes in Poland and Europe. As part of the Research and Engagement team, she supports the planning and delivery of engagement events designed to gather people's experiences and insights about local health and social care services. Anna thrives on work that has a clear purpose — she is driven by the opportunity to help others make their voices heard and to turn those voices into meaningful change in the communities they live in.
Calum Wilson-Smith - Deputy Chief Executive
Calum joined the team in December 2025 and has been key in supporting the Chief Executive and wider team ever since.
