Please briefly describe your clinical/medical experience to date?
I qualified in 1996 as a Chartered Physiotherapist with an Honours degree in Physiotherapy from University West of England. I initially completed my junior rotations at St Peter’s Hospital in Chertsey before obtaining my first paediatric community rotational role based at Queen Mary’s Hospital in Roehampton in 1998. I continued working in community paediatrics until 2019 when I made the leap across to the acute setting and started to work at Southampton Children’s Hospital in a Clinical Specialist Role in Neuro-Orthopaedics and have been here ever since.
My current professional roles include:
Working on the acute inpatient paediatric orthopaedic ward
Clinical Specialist Physiotherapist within paediatric neuromuscular MDT clinic.
Helping young people and their families with neurological conditions plan and prepare for their orthopaedic surgery
Working within the neurology service as part of the MDT botox clinic which involves the assessment and clinical decision making for consideration of botox injections for children with neurological difficulties.
What motivated you to enter paediatric care in the first place?
I have always wanted to work with children and as soon as I qualified as a physiotherapist I knew I wanted to specialise in paediatrics. I get great job satisfaction from working with the children and their families and forming strong relationships with them as well as the whole professional team around the child.
How will the funding from The Evie Dove Foundation help you to advance your career and your impact/services to children?
I currently work at an advanced level within the paediatric orthopaedic team and neuro-orthopaedic service helping support the orthopaedic consultants with clinical assessment and decision making around orthopaedic management and surgical planning for children with complex physical needs.
I am passionate about ensuring the patients and their families receive the best possible care and experience both pre and post operatively and am committed to continuous professional development and ensuring an evidence-based approach whenever possible. This course is rare in it’s focus on spina bifida and will be invaluable in helping expand and support my existing knowledge, understanding and clinical skills when working with these young people and their families and to ensure the best possible decisions and outcomes for them.
How did you find out about The Evie Dove Foundation?
From a colleague who was also successful in receiving funding for a course.
Tell us about yourself!
In my spare time I particularly enjoy spending time with my young grandchildren as well as family and friends; going to the theatre and cinema; watching dramas on Netflix and holidaying as much as I can both in the UK and around the world whenever I am able. I love a beach, a boat trip and a waterfall and have recently returned from a fantastic trip to Costa Rica where I developed a strong interest in bird watching, seeking out and identifying a variety of unusual birds and am looking forward to continuing this now back in the UK
Anything else you would like to tell us about your experience, future aspirations and motivations?
I seek to maintain a high level of clinical expertise and evidence-based practice by attending courses/conferences and continued wider reading as well as shared learning with my team and colleagues.
I am particularly passionate about promoting and increasing physical activity for all children and young people with a disability. I enjoy working closely with the children, families and all professionals involved with them to get to know them better, to understand their family dynamic and lifestyle priorities in order to agree goals and come to management decisions together, hopefully leading to better outcomes and achieving their dreams.
