MY STORY

Born in 1979 and diagnosed at 18 months old with Congenital Bilateral hip dysplasia I have spent much of my life receiving treatment within our National Healthcare System. I have had over seventy general anaesthetics throughout my lifetime and am no stranger to what it means to be a patient.

In adulthood I have worked therapeutically in the mental health sector for over 20 years in several settings including HM Prison Service, a UK Adoption charity, the homicide division of Victim Support UK, primary schools and pupil referral units. Currently, I specialise in working with trauma and supporting parent/ child relationships both privately and within a school and early years setting.

In January this year I embarked upon a project idea that I have been excited to share for some time. I started by writing a personal piece for the British Orthopaedic Association focusing on toxic shame created within my medical history, which you can read here. In doing this I want to shine a light on the need to improve the consistency of compassionate care within our UK Healthcare systems. I passionately believe that we should focus on keeping compassion at the centre of every practice for the utmost wellbeing of both staff and patients. I welcome a sharing of your stories on this forum and will use them to support my compassionate care pursuit.