Lesley Allen – Co-Chair

I’m co-chair of HLG and am the Library Services Manager at Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust.
I have worked in NHS libraries for over 35 years and have had the privilege of working across a variety of sectors including acute, primary care trust, regional health authority and now a community trust.
I’ve always had an interest in staff development and have long been involved in developing CPD offers locally across the West Midlands and as part of being co-CPD lead for HLG. In my own organisation I act as a coach and mentor as well as Mental Health First Aider. I’ve also worked with many library staff undertaking their NVQs in the past as well as the CILIP ACLIP qualification.
In my spare time, I enjoy visiting the theatre and have a particular love for Matthew Bourne’s work. I also enjoy reading and run and book group in my day job.

Ruth Carlyle – Co-Chair

Head of Library and Knowledge Services, HEE Midlands and East

I lead on the Health Libraries Group’s policy activity, responding to consultations and proposing areas for the committee to influence. My background is in health information services within the voluntary sector and my role at Macmillan Cancer Support includes oversight of information and support services, alongside financial support, physical activity and support to help people with cancer to stay in employment. . I have an academic interest in health policy, having recently completed a PhD on public involvement in the National Health Service. I am also an Associate Research Fellow in the Department of Politics, Birkbeck College, London.

Amanda Balaam – Committee Secretary

I’m Secretary of HLG and the Evidence and Library Service Manager at Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust.

I have worked in NHS Libraries for over 5 years, initially in an acute trust and now a community and mental health trust. Before this, I worked in secondary school libraries for over 25 years in various parts of the country. Previously I was involved in the Career Development Group of CILIP, both regionally and nationally.

Outside of work, I am heavily involved in badminton umpiring and this has allowed me to attend events across Europe, as well as to Australia and Canada. The downside of this is that we see very little other than airports, hotels and sports halls! I am Secretary of the Badminton Umpires Association of England.

David Law – HLG Treasurer

Head of Knowledge Services, Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust

I have been the Head of Knowledge Services at Royal Wolverhampton since 2001 and provide strategic management for a Trust of over 12,000 employees. I started my career in Walsall Public libraries and had various roles including working on the mobile library and at the town’s reference library. I have previously been the National Services Manager for the Health Library & Information Services Directory, a role I occupied until 2023, and I have been the HLG Treasurer since September 2023.

Alison Paul – Membership Secretary

Clinical Knowledge Specialist, University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust

I have worked in the NHS for over 20 years. I am currently a Clinical Knowledge Specialist at the University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust based in Worthing Hospital.  My role is diverse, and information retrieval, evidence searching, and training users are the main components of my role. I am out and about in the hospital, working with staff of all grades and professions to promote and support evidence-based decision-making to inform patient care, quality improvement, research and actively promoting the Knowledge and Library Services.  I attend multidisciplinary team meetings, ward rounds, and support teams with systematic reviews, critical appraisal, clinical guidelines and journal clubs. I was previously the Library and Knowledge Manager at Ashford and St Peter’s NHS Foundation Trust in Surrey for 16 years. I was an Outreach Librarian at Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust. I have also worked in other health libraries including academic, departmental and private company.

Imrana Ghumra – Conference Lead

Head of Knowledge Services, University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust 

I have been an active member of CILIP’s Health Libraries Group since 2009. I was Co-Chair from 2015 to 2023 and I have now taken on the role of Conference Lead. Being an active member of HLG is part of my professional identity, where I can be creative to help meet the needs of our members and it has helped me  gain broader experience of projects and work streams with national and international bodies. I have previously worked for the Schools Library Service, Health Education England, the Royal Society of Medicine and the Civil Service but the majority of my career has been in Health Libraries. In February 2026 I will celebrate 25 years of continuous NHS Service alongside being a Chartered Member of CILIP. I am currently working towards my Fellowship.

#LksStaffRock

Potenza Atiogbe – Communications Lead

Multiprofessional Education and Library Services Manager, Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust

I am the Library Services Manager at Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust. I have strategic responsibility for the library services. I have worked previously in Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust as the Acting Head of Library and Knowledge Management and Deputy Head of Library Services. I was a member of the HLG CPD panel and am the Communications Officer on the HLG main committee.

Neena Shukla Morris – Policy Co-Lead

I work as Information Resources Librarian for University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust, where I primarily support undergraduates at Brighton and Sussex Medical School.  My primary interest is in learning and teaching, and I am passionate about information literacy skills as a core part of education.  I think policy can be both sword and shield for libraries, and I enjoy encouraging others to see the value of documentation and protocol as a crucial part of librarianship.  Prior to working in health I worked in academic, school and public libraries.  I am a chartered member of CILIP and hold an Associate Fellowship from the Higher Education Academy. 

Cheryl Francis – Prizes & Bursaries Lead

Liaison Librarian (Medicine), Library & Learner Development, University of Sunderland

My role as a liaison librarian includes teaching literature searching skills to undergraduate and postgraduates in the School of Medicine. I also provide tailored support for researchers in the School. A key element of my work is liaison with academics to ensure resources we buy are aligned to the curriculum. I previously worked for NHS Library and Knowledge services in Brighton, for an information health charity in West Sussex and I began my career in public libraries, first in Crawley and then across Brighton and Hove. I am a chartered librarian, I gained my undergraduate degree from the University of Brighton in 2001 with a BA in Information and Library Studies, first chartering in 2003. I became an Advanced Practitioner member of FedIP in 2024.

Sarah Hennessy – Committee member

I manage the Library and Knowledge Service at South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust. My focus is on knowledge management, improved communication and marketing, along with strategic planning and development. 

 I joined Libraries for Nursing in 2008, which was a sub-group of HLG and then moved onto the HLG committee in 2011. Here I have had roles as Conference Lead and Co-Chair and am now a non-portfolio committee member.

Phillip Barlow – Committee member

I am currently the NHS Support Librarian at Chelsea & Westminster Hospital, which is part of Imperial College London’s Library Service. I joined the HLG Committee in 2015 as HLG Nursing Lead, having previously served as a committee member of Libraries for Nursing. In addition, I was also the editor of HLG Nursing Bulletin. I stepped down from these positions in 2022 to become a non-portfolio committee member, while also serving as a member of HLG’s CPD Panel.

Janine Hall – Sustainability Co-Lead

Librarian, Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

I am currently Librarian at Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and a member of the Sustainability in NHS Knowledge and Library Services Community of Practice. Before joining the Trust in 2020, I was a Library Assistant at Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust for 11 years. I joined the HLG Committee as co-lead for sustainability in 2023.

Paul Cannon – Co-CPD Lead

College Librarian Medical, Veterinary & Life Sciences

I am the College Librarian Medical, Veterinary & Life Sciences (MVLS) at the University of Glasgow, a role I have held since 2016. In this role, I provide strategic development and management of Library Services delivery for MVLS, one of four Colleges in the University. I deliver professional knowledge and expertise on information resources and retrieval to enhance College research outputs. I also manage and develop the MVLS library research collections. I have worked in a number of library sectors, including two Special Health Boards in Scotland. 

Adam Tocock – Sustainability Co-Lead

Librarian, Whittington Health Library

I am the manager of Whittington Health Library, and the chair of the London Searching and Training Forum (LSTF), a group for health librarians in the capital (and beyond) to share best practice. I am the co-chair of the Sustainability in NHS Knowledge and Library Services Community of Practice, and joined the HLG Committee as co-lead for sustainability in 2023.

Maria Grant – HILJ Editor (Ex-Officio)

I am Editor-in-Chief of the CILIP Health Libraries Group ISI listed Health Information and Libraries Journal. I have a background in information science and have published widely including a typology of reviews and associated methodologies and as Lead Editor of the “Research, Evaluation and Audit: Key Steps in Demonstrating Your Value”. I am a freelance trainer, coach and mentor in professional academic writing, informed by my doctoral thesis using constructivist grounded theory to explore how academics acquire the skills to write for publication. I am founder of The Grounded Theorist blog and @GroundedTheory X/Twitter account. 

Tom Roper – HLG Representative to the Medical Library Association

I’m a (mostly) retired librarian, most recently a clinical librarian for Brighton and Sussex NHS Library and Knowledge Service. Before that I worked in NHS libraries in London and Sussex, for the North Thames Regional Library and Information Unit, for two Royal Colleges, Brighton and Sussex Medical School and an NHS Evidence Specialist Collection.

I joined HLG when we were still the Medical, Health and Welfare Group of the Library Association, served on the editorial board of the Health Information and Libraries Journal. held various committee posts in the 1990s and 2000s, and was proud to be awarded the Cyril Barnard Memorial Prize in recognition of outstanding services to medical librarianship in 2020.  I have also been a long-term member of MLA.  I have authored over thirty papers in the medical and librarianship literature. I keep myself amused in retirement with some light freelance work as an expert searcher, trainer, and by peer reviewing journal submissions.

Assistant Librarian, North East London NHS Foundation Trust (NELFT)

I co-edit the HLG newsletter alongside my colleagues, Celestina Lau (co-editor) and Stephen Reid (Assistant Editor). I qualified in 2023 and currently work as an Assistant Librarian at the Northeast London NHS Foundation Trust. I focus on training and marketing with a particular interest in data and emerging technology. I’m studying for the Clinical Data Science Post Graduate Certificate at the University of Manchester and work on this alongside my chartership. I’m also a UNISON Women’s Officer, campaigning and doing case work for women’s rights in the workplace.

Evidence Specialist, Ashford and St Peter’s Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (ASPH)

I am the Evidence Specialist in the Knowledge Service team at Ashford and St Peter’s Hospitals (ASPH) NHS Foundation Trust since Dec 2024. Aside from focusing on evidence searching and training users in my diverse role, I have a particular interest in all things outreach and marketing related (i.e. social media, promotional materials), alongside emerging technology like AI. Previously, I was working as the Assistant Librarian – Outreach community and primary care in the library team at Surrey and Sussex Healthcare (SaSH) NHS Trust in 2023 – the same year I joined the HLG Committee as part of the current Newsletter editorial team. Prior to my introductory post in health libraries, I graduated with my MA degree in Information and Library Studies from Aberystwyth University in 2022.

Knowledge Specialist, North East London NHS Foundation Trust (NELFT)

I joined the HLG Committee as part of the current Newsletter editorial team in 2023, the same year that I took on my current role as Knowledge Specialist at North East London NHS Foundation Trust (NELFT). Prior to this I worked in a couple of different roles at St George’s, University of London – starting out there as an Information Assistant in 2016; the same year that I began my MSc in Library and Information Science at City, University of London.