Meet Hywel Lloyd, our newest Otago Community Hospice Board Member. A Welsh GP with a passion for data...and football!

Hywel grew up in the picturesque university town of Aberystwyth, on the west coast of Wales. He studied medicine in Liverpool, not because it had the best medical school in the world, but because it had the best football team in the world. Liverpool F.C.   

After med school Hywel returned to Aberystwyth as a GP trainee. There he met his future wife, Kim, a kiwi nurse who was on her OE in Wales with friends on a rugby exchange. 

Being a rural GP in Wales was very much “cradle to grave” care with a focus on the community, which Hywel found very rewarding. He also ‘dabbled in data’ during this time – reading and learning as much as he could about IT and databases.

After nine years as a GP in Llanidloes, Hywel and Kim moved to Dunedin (2003), with their two children Emma and Matt.

He worked as a full time GP at the Mosgiel Health Centre, while also doing work for the Taieri Strath Taieri PHO on long-term condition management. He used his IT skills gained in Wales to merge three different data bases to get a population report on the ‘health of the community’ – especially the frail and the elderly.

The goal of this work was to identify those in the community who are at risk, early, and put plans in place so things can be done differently, shared goals can be set, and good communication and conversations had. This is a community/population based approach that Hywel learned in Wales and something he sees more in rural practices in New Zealand…and in palliative care.

After the elderly care project – which he did with our very own Deb Connor - Hywel went to work for Murray Tilyard at South Link Health. 

In 2018 he took up the role of Medical Director of Strategy, Primary and Community Care for the Southern District Health Board, now Health New Zealand – Southern. He applied for the job because the Southern DHB had been getting some negative media coverage and he was nosey – he wanted to see what was going on. In 2021 he became the Director, Quality & Clinical Governance Solutions. A position he still holds.

His role involves improving the structure and processes for quality, patient safety and risk. A major part of this is monitoring all harm outcomes and tracking the metrics. He also oversees compliance, certification, performance and accountability to ensure safe, efficient, effective care.

Hywel is looking forward to his role on the Otago Community Hospice board - an "amazing organisation that he has always admired from afar. It’s a privilege to be on the board.” His community based approach and deep understanding of structure and process will be a huge asset to OCH. As will his love of data and the importance of measuring the right things for patient quality of care.  

Hywel’s specialty is community medicine, but his “affliction” is Football. If you see him in the OCH corridor looking at his phone it’s probably because there is a game on. His other great passion is food, specifically finding the world’s best Crème Caramel. He thinks he may have solved that one – Peter Gordon’s crystalised ginger version (See recipe in this month’s OCHeye).

Hywel still works an afternoon a week as a GP at the Mosgiel Health Centre, keeping him connected to the community he loves. He fills his cup by making a special Sunday dinner for his family every week.

Croeso i'r tîm Hywel.