Meet the Team

I joined the Hospice in April 2023. I qualified as a Registered General Nurse in February 2004 and worked within the Surgical receiving unit and Gastrointestinal surgery. Throughout my experience within the acute hospital, I realised I wanted to pursue my career in Specialist Palliative care.

I then went to work in St Andrews Hospice as a staff nurse within the Inpatient unit for nine years, during this time I gained valuable knowledge, skills and experience. I enjoyed working within a team providing holistic care to patients and their families.

In 2014 I felt ready for a new challenge and joined Kilbryde Hospice. Kilbryde Hospice was a new purpose built Hospice in South Lanarkshire. I was fortunate to join the Hospice at a very early stage and be involved in establishing Day Service and the outpatient’s department as a staff Nurse.

Through learning and developing I was appointed the Day Services Manager position. As the Hospice evolved, I felt privileged to have been involved in the Project team to ensure all policies, procedures and operationally the Inpatient Unit was safe and ready to open in August 2018. I gained valuable experience developing services and contributing within a project team.

I enjoyed the opportunity developing services. As the ward was ready to open, I was successful and appointed the Inpatient Unit Managers position where I worked for four and a half years.

I feel privileged to join The Prince & Princess of Wales Hospice as the Young Adult Service Lead and to work within the Young Adult Service. I have been inspired by the young adults and their families and look forward to working in a team to establish how as a service we can make a difference to the young adults and their families.

Through education and training within the hospice I gained a qualification and also completed the SVQ level 3 in palliative care, working my way up to a band 3 Senior Health Care Assistant.

Through time I worked occasional shifts in day services when required (now known as the living well hub). Through working in day services I became aware that there was the potential to set up a young adult service for young adults with life limiting neurological conditions, I became interested in this and through the years attended events that were run to promote the young adult service.

When they advertised for permanent staff to start up the short break stay service I decided to apply for a position. I was delighted to obtain a full-time position within the team as an Advanced Health Care Support Worker.

Looking forward to a new role I was excited to be working with young adults and being able to bring my wealth of knowledge and experience to my new role whilst also learning completely new skills.

I feel very privileged to have worked within the hospice both at a palliative level and also with the young adult service throughout my career.

I have worked in the care industry for over 18 years, from adult care homes to then working with young adults with severe mental and physical disabilities to live independently at home.

I then joined the NHS, working in the general medicine wards for adults at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital for 3 and a half years, which I enjoyed very much, learning new qualities and skills. Being a part of someone's health journey is a privilege, and I will do my best to provide great quality of care.

I then moved on to join the outpatient clinics within the Royal Hospital for Sick Kids. This was such a rewarding opportunity, building relationships with kids and families, supporting them through hard challenging times, and assisting the doctors/consultants to manage the clinics efficiently on a daily basis.

I then saw this opportunity come up to join this wonderful new service, the Young Adult Service within the hospice. This opportunity is a real privilege to be part of. The team is amazing, the hospice is amazing, and I know that this is the best decision I have made. I look forward to meeting all the young adults to support them in having a wonderful, fulfilled life within the Young Adult Service.

I worked at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Brisbane for a number of years before undertaking a postgraduate certificate in Neonatal Intensive Care nursing. The bug for travel then brought me over to the UK in the year 2000. I found myself settling in Glasgow with a job at the Hospital for Sick Children – Yorkhill. After a few years, I returned to Australia and to adult nursing, working in acute oncology wards and the day units administering chemotherapy. However, circumstances brought me back to Scotland in 2013, and I was fortunate to be able to join the IPU team at The Prince & Princess of Wales Hospice, where I worked with a wonderful team for nine years.

When the opportunity arose to be involved with the Short Break Stays pilot scheme in 2022, I embraced it, as I felt I was able to bring my valuable paediatric and adult nursing skills together. In addition, my experience as an acting Band 6 when working in a busy high dependent children’s ward was also valuable and important for this post.

I thoroughly enjoyed working with the Young Adults and was excited to be part of this new developing service. Then In June 2023, I was fortunate to be able to join the new Young Adult Team on a 12-month secondment. I am enjoying this new challenge and role within my nursing career. Working with the Young Adults brings a lot of joy and job satisfaction.

I felt that this was a place where I would love to work. The environment was lovely, and the standard of care for patients in the IPU was exceptionally high. Additionally, I was warmly welcomed by the staff.

Shortly after, I noticed a job advertised and decided to apply. Luckily, I was offered the position as a Healthcare Assistant in the IPU, where I worked for 7 years before transitioning to the role of Advanced Healthcare Support Worker with the Young Adult Service.

With almost 30 years of experience in care, I've always found joy in supporting people. For me, it's not just a job; it's about having the right values and empathy for those we care for. Previously, I spent 14 years with Key Housing, providing support to service users of all ages living with profound learning disabilities and complex needs. This role brought me immense satisfaction as I supported service users to achieve their potential.

When the opportunity arose to join the young adult service, I seized it, drawing on my previous experience. It was a chance to contribute to a brand-new service and make a difference for young adults and their families.

Over the past year, the young adult service has flourished, providing fantastic opportunities for our team and our patients. We've enjoyed social gatherings, parties, and clubs, bringing young adults and their families together within the hospice's person-centred environment.

As we look to the future, we anticipate further growth and expansion of the service, continuing to provide excellent care and support to all our patients.