Meet the team

Let us introduce just some of the many individuals that work together to provide you with support and advice.

Dr Rob Hendry

Medical Director

Rob is a native of Glasgow and studied medicine at Dundee University, graduating in 1981. He was a partner in an urban teaching practice in Dundee for over 12 years.

Rachel Lynch

Ireland Business Lead

Rachel is the Business Lead for Medical Protection in Ireland. Based in County Louth, she has worked for Medical Protection since 2002.

Michelle Herbert

Relationship Manager

Michelle Herbert joined Medical Protection as a relationship manager in 2019. Based in Ireland, Michelle is responsible for the GP segment in Ireland.

Vicky Colthart

Relationship Manager

Úna Buckley-Weir

Relationship Manager

Úna is excited to transfer her skills in building honest relationships while retaining business in the Irish market, to her role as Relationship Manager for Secondary Care members in Ireland.

Lisa Goodall

Case Manager Assistant

Lisa is an experienced case manager assistant who has assisted members in Ireland for a number of years.

Sara Grewar

Solicitor and Claims Manager

Sara is a solicitor and claims manager in our Irish claims team. Sara is a senior member of the team and handles many of our most complex and high value claims.

Julie Baylis

Case Manager

Julie, a case manager at Medical Protection, joined us in 2019 with a background interest in medical law and ethics.

Dr James Thorpe

Medicolegal Consultant

James is an experienced medicolegal consultant assisting our members in Ireland with the full range of ethical and legal problems arising from their clinical practice.

Medical Director

Rob is a native of Glasgow and studied medicine at Dundee University, graduating in 1981. He was a partner in an urban teaching practice in Dundee for over 12 years.

He developed an interest in medical law and completed an MPhil in Law and Ethics in Medicine at Glasgow University in 1992. This led to consultancy work for Medical Protection and part-time teaching at Dundee University. He took up a full-time appointment as a Medicolegal Adviser with the Medical and Dental Defence Union of Scotland in 1996 and remained there until he moved to Medical Protection when a Scottish office was opened in 2009.

Rob is a Foundation Fellow of the Faculty of Forensic and Legal Medicine and continues to have an interest in teaching, having honorary positions at several universities. He has an interest in mediation and has served on a number of governmental working parties looking at alternative approaches to dispute management.

Having completed his MBA at Strathclyde University Graduate Business School in 2001, he has continued to develop his business interests. In 2011, he was appointed Deputy Medical Director and in 2013 became Medical Director of Medical Protection and is currently responsible for medicolegal services delivered by Medical Protection to its members worldwide.

Rachel Lynch

Ireland Business Lead

Rachel Lynch is the Business Lead for Medical Protection in Ireland. Based in Co. Louth, Rachel has worked for Medical Protection since 2002. Throughout her 18 years, Rachel’s role has evolved, initially working very closely with the six medical schools around the country, then more recently working with internal colleagues on our strategy and planning and engaging with all our main stakeholders on many of the issues affecting our members in Ireland.

She will play a big part in the opening of the new Dublin office, having worked for many years with members and understanding their needs. Rachel works closely with members in Ireland and is heavily involved in event management and providing educational assistance and sponsorship support.

Tom Hayes

Head of Delivery Services - Ireland

Tom Hayes is Head of Service Delivery for Medical Protection and joined MPS in 2020 with an extensive background in private practice in medical law and malpractice.

Since his appointment he has been responsible for the resourcing of our new Irish Claims and Case management teams with a focus on maintaining excellence in service provision and ensuring MPS is closer to members and other important key stakeholders in the Irish market.

Julie Baylis

Case Manager

Julie, a case manager at Medical Protection, joined us in 2019 with a background interest in medical law and ethics. Julie provides expert advice to GPs and practises on medicolegal issues, complaint handling and inquests. Having graduated with an LLB in Law, Julie sought to pursue her interest in medical law and ethics and went on to complete an LLM in Healthcare Ethics and Law, obtaining a Merit.

After graduating, Julie spent some time as a GP receptionist within a busy practice. This time has given her a valuable insight into the pressures and difficulties that practices and GPs face on a daily basis. Her background interest in medical law, coupled with first-hand experience of the demands on the healthcare system, allows Julie to consider the impact these issues can have on practices and GPs and utilise these skills at Medical Protection.

Vicky Colthart

Relationship Manager

Vicky is a relationship manager for our Ireland members. She dedicates much of her time to the planning of Medical Protection’s three flagship conferences – the Consultant Conference, GP Conference and Dental Conference. She researches the biggest challenges being faced in general practice, as well as identifying potential future challenges. This ensures Medical Protection has the most experienced experts and speakers in these fields, delivering the best educational content and providing invaluable practical take-home advice.

Vicky has worked for Medical Protection for over 14 years. Working across various departments has given Vicky great experience and insight into the needs of our GP and consultant members.

Email - [email protected]

Úna Buckley-Weir

Relationship Manager

Úna is excited to transfer her skills in building honest relationships while retaining business in the Irish market, to her role as Relationship Manager for Secondary Care members in Ireland.

Since graduating from the Institute of Technology Tralee with an Advanced Certificate in Business and Tourism, she has worked in sales for various companies, including in the pharmaceutical industry. Most recently, Úna has spent over 10 years working as a Pfizer Medical Sales Rep, calling on healthcare professionals in Munster. This involved delivering education to GPs and nurses through key consultants.

Email - [email protected]

Lisa Goodall

Case Manager Assistant

Lisa is an experienced case manager assistant who has assisted members in Ireland for a number of years. Lisa will often be the first point of call when a member calls the office to check on the progress of their case. Lisa works closely with the team to provide a prompt response to any queries or concerns the member may have.

She will assist and advise members where possible to provide an efficient service, prioritising and escalating urgent matters to the wider team when required. Lisa has knowledge of Medical Council processes and is acutely aware of the stress members can face in having a complaint made against them.

Sara Grewar

Solicitor and Claims Manager

Sara is a solicitor and claims manager in our Irish claims team. Sara is a senior member of the team and handles many of our most complex and high value claims. Sara’s role is to support members dealing with claims, being their point of contact when a claim is made and answering any questions they have and explaining the claims process and what they can expect. Sara then works with our solicitors in Dublin to direct the investigations and ensure that we employ the best experts and barristers to understand the claim.

Sara has worked with Medical Protection for four years and is known for her calm and analytical approach and is a go-to person in the team for advice on strategy and tactics. She studied law at Glasgow University and was admitted as a solicitor in 2004. Sara was involved in negotiating the commencement of a voluntary pre-action protocol in Ireland, and also delivers training and education at our member conferences in Dublin.

Michelle Herbert

Relationship Manager

Michelle Herbert joined Medical Protection as a relationship manager in 2019. Based in Ireland, Michelle is responsible for the GP segment in Ireland. Michelle works with members to ensure their needs are being met. She works closely with key stakeholders in the GP market to collaborate on initiatives that support our members.

Michelle has over 20 years of business development experience across multiple sectors in the UK and Ireland and is passionate about delivering exceptional results and customer service. She was awarded a first-class honours degree in business from Athlone Institute of Technology.

Email - [email protected]

Dr Rod McBain

Medicolegal Consultant

Since joining Medical Protection, Rod has gained extensive experience working with solicitors as part of a specialist team at Medical Protection managing claims involving members in Ireland. He now works as part of the team providing advice on a wide variety of medicolegal and ethical issues affecting professional practice.

Rod completed his medical degree at the University of Glasgow in 1991, after which he worked in a variety of specialties in hospitals in Scotland and Australia. On returning to the UK, he completed general practice training and obtained the MRCGP. In 2016, Rod obtained the Diploma of Legal Medicine and moved full-time into medicolegal work.

Dr James Thorpe

Medicolegal Consultant

James is an experienced medicolegal consultant assisting our members in Ireland with the full range of ethical and legal problems arising from their clinical practice. Working alongside the Medical Protection team and, when necessary, our expert Dublin-based panel law firms, James aims to provide support and advice in difficult circumstances such as when a report is requested following an adverse incident or a doctor is notified of a complaint to the Medical Council.

James has an LLM in Medical Ethics and Law from the University of Edinburgh and his expert legal knowledge, along with his clinical experience, means that he fully understands the difficulties faced by Medical Protection members. James also has an interest in teaching and risk prevention, regularly delivering presentations on medicolegal topics and contributing to internal and external publications. Prior to joining Medical Protection in 2014, James worked in busy acute hospitals in the UK and Australia. James is a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and is on the UK GMC specialist register.

Diane Baylis

Clinical Risk Educator

Diane Baylis is a Clinical Risk Educator in Medical Protection’s Risk Prevention department. She has a passion and dedication for improving the quality and safety of patient care. Diane develops and delivers risk management education and training to healthcare professionals in order to improve the quality and safety of patient care and reduce avoidable harm to patients.

She has 25 years’ experience as a registered nurse in a range of organisations, including primary and secondary care, working at a senior management level. She has an MSc in Risk Management in Health and Social Care.

Diane has been working for Medical Protection for the past ten years and over that period of time has worked extensively in Ireland providing expert risk management advice and training to members, and has presented at many of our conferences and events.