Please briefly describe your clinical/medical experience to date?
I am an Occupational Therapist (OT) and currently work as senior specialist occupational therapist across paediatrics and neonates. My clinical interests include neonatal and paediatric critical care, long term ventilation, developmental care, rehabilitation, and supporting infants and children with complex needs as they move between critical care, ward and community settings.
A particular area of interest for me is paediatric critical care occupational therapy, which is still an emerging area of practice in the UK. Alongside my clinical role, I am involved in service development, outcome measurement and the UK Paediatric Critical Care Occupational Therapy Community of Practice, which is now supported by The Royal College of Occupational Therapists.
What motivated you to enter paediatric care in the first place?
I have always enjoyed working with children and, before becoming an Occupational Therapist, I worked as a swimming teacher. I loved seeing infants and children grow in confidence, particularly when something that initially felt difficult became achievable through encouragement, play and finding the right approach for that individual child.
That experience stayed with me and is a big part of why I was drawn to paediatrics. I really value the fact that infants, children and young people are all individuals, and that supporting them well means understanding not only their medical needs, but also their personality, family, environment and what matters to them. OT gives me the opportunity to combine clinical reasoning with creativity and meaningful activity, and I especially enjoy finding ways to champion their sense of self and support participation, even within highly medical environments.
How will the funding from The Evie Dove Foundation help you to advance your career and your impact/services to children?
The Foundation’s support will enable me to attend WFPICCS, where I have had three pieces of work accepted for presentation. This will allow me to learn from international paediatric critical care teams, strengthen my knowledge of current evidence in rehabilitation and developmental care, and build clinical and research links in this specialist area.
For my own career, I see this as an important step towards becoming more involved in research and service development within paediatric critical care occupational therapy. I want to contribute to strengthening the evidence base, develop better ways of demonstrating occupational therapy outcomes, and use this to support clearer service models, workforce development and greater consistency for occupational therapists working in critical care.
This is particularly relevant in the context of the NHS 10 Year Health Plan and the move towards more care being delivered closer to home. For children with complex or critical illness, the foundations for their next stage of care often begin much earlier, within critical care itself. I want to help ensure occupational therapy is recognised as part of that pathway, with the evidence, staffing and service structures needed to support children and families at that point in their medical journey.
I will also share the learning through the UK Paediatric Critical Care Occupational Therapy Community of Practice, which I co-chair, helping to build research confidence, share developing practice and support occupational therapists working in this emerging field across the UK.
How did you find out about The Evie Dove Foundation?
I came across The Evie Dove Foundation while looking for funding opportunities to support my professional development, and a physiotherapy colleague recommended the foundation to me. After reading more about the Foundation, I felt that its focus on compassionate paediatric care and supporting clinicians to develop their careers aligned very closely with both my work and the reasons I wanted to attend WFPICCS.
Tell us about yourself!
Outside of work I try to keep a good balance between being active and finding time to relax! I love exploring and trying new places, whether that is somewhere new in London or travelling further afield.
My sister and I are very close, and one of the things we both really enjoy is amateur floristry. We need very little excuse to visit the flower market and spend an afternoon putting arrangements together, which fortunately works out quite well for our friends and family!
Anything else you would like to tell us about your experience, future aspirations and motivations?
Looking ahead, I would like to continue developing as a specialist occupational therapist in paediatric and neonatal critical care, while becoming more involved in research and building the evidence base for this area of practice.
I am particularly interested in how we support children and families throughout the whole critical care journey, from the earliest stages of admission through rehabilitation and transition to the ward, home, hospice or community. Longer term, I hope my clinical and research development can contribute to stronger occupational therapy provision within paediatric critical care and ensure children and families are supported to participate in the activities, relationships and routines that matter most to them.
Being part of the Evie Dove Heroes Team feels like a very special opportunity, and I hope to be able to share how the Foundation’s support contributes not only to my own development, but also to the children, families and colleagues I work alongside.
