When the opportunity to take on the role of Director of Care at St Helena Hospice became available, I grabbed it with both hands. I saw this as an opportunity to translate the skills and experience I had developed in acute care into the hospice sector. My role at St Helena gave me the opportunity to lead the team through some very challenging times, most notably during the Covid pandemic where the Hospice team never ceased to make me proud with how they responded to every demand placed on them. If I asked them to jump they would say how high, despite their own fears for their own families’ health and themselves.

I took the opportunity to retire early towards the end of the Covid pandemic but soon realised that doing nothing wasn’t for me, so when I was asked to consider taking on the role of trustee it didn’t take me long to grasp the opportunity. It has been a challenging transition moving from directing and leading a team at operational level to providing the scrutiny and challenge and assurance at Board level, particularly during the financial challenges last year, where difficult decisions had to made about clinical services that I feel so passionately about.

I believe that I can bring my clinical experience balanced with an understanding of governance and assurance, to ensure that charitable funds are used in the best way possible to meet the needs of our local population.

I believe that everyone deserves the right to be able to access palliative and end of life care in the place best suited to their needs and wishes. The hospice sector is best placed to support this with other health and social care partners but what hospice care does is individualise that care for the person at the centre and those that are important to them.

My role as a trustee is important to me because I want to ensure the Hospice is sustainable for the long term, and the role enables me to continue to use my many years of clinical experience to the benefit of others.