My experience and interests

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After qualifying with an MSc in Speech and Language Therapy at the University of Reading in 2011, I started my career in a private low secure Hospital in Hampshire, working with adults with Learning Disabilities, mental health disorders and Challenging Behaviour. During this time, I started a Makaton choir and we went on to be awarded a RCSLT Giving voice award in 2013. 

I moved to the NHS in 2014 to work with adults with progressive neurological conditions, Stroke and TBI in the community. I attended Lee Silverman Voice Therapy (LSVT) training in London in 2014 and became the lead for LSVT and Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP) specialist within the team at Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust. I also during that time undertook further training in Dysfluency at CityLit which I loved.

In 2017, I returned to my native Yorkshire and joined the team at Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS trust working both in Hospital inpatient and community settings. Having worked for the last 5 and a half years in this role I was able to develop my clinical skills further in TBI and complex Stroke at the Level 2B Neurorehabilitation Centre at Goole. I was also able to continue my role as LSVT lead and lead of the Parkinson's service. 

During my time at NLaG I worked alongside the infection control team to roll out a comprehensive Mouth care protocol, competency and training package and spoke at the BugsRUs conference in 2019. 

I worked within the Hospital and community settings throughout the pandemic and while this had its challenges, I was proud to be part of the NHS during that time. This said, the disparity between inpatient and community services led me to decide to leave the NHS and aim to provide more timely and intensive therapy within the private sector. I also want to be able to provide more support in the community for people with communication difficulties and will be volunteering my time to set up support groups for people with Parkinson's in the Goole and surrounding area and Primary Progressive Aphasia.

My knowledge and expertise centres around TBI, Stroke and progressive neurological conditions with my special interest being in Parkinson's, however I am skilled at supporting people with a range of communication difficulties and can help to support people to understand information in order to support decision making, empowering and enabling them to do this and I feel incredibly passionate about this. I advocate for my clients and feel strongly that every effort needs to be made to support people with communication difficulties to have the same access to opportunities for work and leisure as those that do not.

I am dedicated to continuing my training and continuing to strive to be the best in my field, providing the most up to date, evidence-based therapy for the people I work with. 

I am passionate about supporting people with communication difficulties to live their best life with the skills and abilities they have, and this includes increasing confidence and opportunities to communicate. 

"Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life"

Confucius

And that is what I aim to continue doing with my company 'Everyone deserves a voice'