A general practitioner in Banagher Co. Offaly, Dr Velma Harkins has long had an interest in improving the standards of care for patients.
Dr Harkins was the only GP representative on the original BreastCheck Steering Group, which was responsible for devising the Breast Check screening programme.
She has a deep interest in structured diabetes care and was instrumental in setting up the Midlands Diabetes Structured Care Programme in 1998, which has been at the forefront of developing a successful model for structured primary care diabetes management for patients with Type 2 Diabetes.
Author of the first ICGP/HSE national guidelines for integrated diabetes care, she was appointed to the Expert Advisory Group on Diabetes in 2009 and thereafter was appointed National GP Lead for Diabetes a position she held from 2010 to 2014.
She is a GP Trainer involved in both under-graduate and post-graduate GP training, and is chairman of the National Association of Trainers in General Practice.
She is currently on the Board of the Irish College of General Practitioners and in 2017 was appointed chair of their Quality, Safety & Standards Committee, whose function is to develop and implement appropriate standards and quality measure for general practitioners and patients.