As a North East London NHS Foundation Trust (NELFT) Involvement Representative and National Patient Safety Partner for NHS England, I draw on my lived experience as a carer and my background as a retired project manager to support co-production, service improvement and patient safety.

For Neurodiversity Celebration Week, we are celebrating the voices and experiences that help shape the services we provide for children, young people and families.

My journey hasn’t been as straightforward as most. I live with multiple long-term health conditions, including dystonia, Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (a genetic connective tissue disorder), scoliosis (a curved spine), and the after-effects of cancer. These challenges have made my career and life more complicated at times, but they’ve also shaped who I am as a nurse and as a person.

I am an Occupational Therapist, and my Carer’s Champion role sits alongside my clinical practice. The Carer’s Champion role is open to anyone within the team, both clinical and non-clinical staff. We’ve been supported in developing this role by Tarek Seeraullee, Havering Carers Lead for NELFT, whose expertise, advocacy for carers’ rights, and ongoing guidance have been invaluable.