Nicola Bedlington

Nicola Bedlington founded Millwater Partners in 2020, and is the international lead for health, social policy, and multi-stakeholder engagement. She works with patient organisations, medical societies, health companies and multistakeholder platforms on strategy, engagement, policy and governance.  Nicola has advised global health bodies (International Society for Outcomes Research – European Chair for their 2020 Conference, Drug Information Association (DIA), World Economic Forum Health Futures Council, International Consortium for Health Outcomes Measurement, (ICHOM) and was special advisor to the European Patients’ Forum (EPF) until April 2023. From 2006 to spring 2019, she served as Secretary General of EPF, growing the organisation from 23 to 74 member organisations and creating a vibrant secretariat in Brussels. She was instrumental in establishing EPF as the key interlocutor for the EU Institutions, WHO and OECD on cross-cutting policy issues affecting all patients. During her time at EPF she co-founded numerous multi-stakeholder initiatives and campaigns to advance equitable access to healthcare, patient empowerment and responsible health data sharing. She led major capacity building programmes for patient advocates, in particular in CEE countries, and co-led two Innovative Medicines Initiative projects on patient education: the ‘European Patients Academy on Therapeutic Innovation’ (EUPATI) and ‘Patient Engagement In Therapeutic Innovation Processes’ (PARADIGM). She was a founding board member of Patient Focused Medicines Development (PFMD). Prior to her role within EPF, Nicola ran her own consultancy for several years, during which she undertook several international assignments in the fields of health, disability and ageing, including external evaluations. She received a 2-year mandate from the Swiss Government to lead the Environment and Schools Initiative, an international governmental network set up by the OECD to advance sustainability education. Earlier in her career, Nicola also served as the founding director of the European Disability Forum (1996-1999), and as an external expert for the European Commission leading an EU funding programme and advisory body on disability (1991-1996). Nicola studied business and human resource management in the UK and France. She has lived in the UK, France, Belgium, and Switzerland, and for the last 12 years in Vienna, Austria.

LINK: www.millwaterpartners.com