Tell us a little about you?
I have been working in public health for a decade now. I initially started supporting young people who had intellectual difficulties and then moved into roles where I was supporting young people and adults who were going through a ‘rough patch’ in terms of their mental health. Both experiences instilled a passion and drive to make a positive difference for others and their families, and to this day I often reflect on the people I was fortunate enough to meet and shared quite unique and life changing moments with.
In 2015, my partner and I decided to spread our wings. We moved from New Zealand to the UK. I wanted to stay in healthcare, but slightly changed my approach. I am now supporting people (professionals and patients) to tell their stories.
In my spare time, I often like to go on adventures, both in the UK and also abroad. I enjoy finding out about different cultures, their history, people, and definitely their food. I also enjoy listening to live music, so look forward to any opportunity to listen to music in local parks, cafés, or shows. I feel that I should also say, I am of course a massive fan of dogs, all of whom I refer to as ‘puppies’!
How do you see the role?
I see my role very much as an enabler, with a can do attitude. I strive to support my highly intelligent, talented, and creative colleagues in ways that help them to provide better care for their patients, and when meeting with other professionals.
This can vary from co-creating posters and presentations to showcase their work at events, producing materials to help others know about our projects (i.e. Health Check video), leaflets or surveys to support their clinical work with patients, and so forth. If I can’t help myself, I do try and link people with someone who can.
I also have the fun job of meeting and working alongside many other professionals who work with children and young people in the community. I appreciate that we all have a role to play in supporting children, young people, and families to lead healthy and happy lives.
What is your hope for the CYPHP programme?
I feel honoured to be part of the CYPHP programme, and am excited to see it is already making an impact by influencing healthcare news, policy, and especially making a positive difference among the children and families that receive the clinical services.
My hope is that CYPHP’s model of care will soon become embedded and treated as business as usual, so that families can benefit from having better and faster access to specialised care. I also hope that we can show other healthcare professionals that change is possible, and that the programme will inspire many more to undertake improvement projects that will benefit patients and strengthen the healthcare system.
To read more of the latest news from CYPHP, please click here.