Helen Birtwhistle
Helen Birtwhistle joined the NHS Confederation in April 2011 with a background in health and communications. She had spent twenty years working in public relations, including the last three years as Managing Director of Cardiff-based company Good Relations Wales. She had also recently been seconded as head of the 50-strong external communications team at the National Assembly for Wales.
A graduate of St Anne’s College, Oxford, where she gained a degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics, Helen went on to become an NHS Management Trainee and, subsequently, a hospital manager in the former South Glamorgan Health Authority. She switched career in 1984 when she gained a post-graduate diploma in Journalism Studies at Cardiff University and joined a daily newspaper, the South Wales Argus. There she worked in a variety of roles, including health correspondent, before rising to the post of deputy news editor.
Helen, a Welsh learner, is a lay member of the Governing Body of the Church in Wales, a member of the Anglican Consultative Council (designed to facilitate the co-operative work of the churches of the Anglican Communion worldwide), a school governor and a board member of Young Enterprise Wales. Helen has four children and enjoys family travel and activities.
Contact Helen on:
helen.birtwhistle@welshconfed.org