I am a retired nurse, midwife, and Associate Professor of Midwifery from the University of Plymouth.  Most of my professional life was spent in midwifery education and practice and involved professional and academic leadership at a senior level, and research.  At this level I worked with a range of disciplines gaining valuable learning.   Since my retirement I have been a public governor at the Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust, (now the Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust following its merger with the Northern Devon Healthcare Trust).  I was appointed to the NIHR Clinical Research Network, South West Peninsula as a Lay Executive, in 2019 and am a member of the Local Clinical Research Network, Partnership Group. My experience as a governor and a Lay Executive has enabled me to continue to remain engaged and involved in the NHS through the lens of a member of the public and patient.  It has added a breadth and depth to my understanding of what matters most to patients.       

I have a passion for equitable, safe, and evidenced based care and when looking at all forms of health and social care research want to see and be assured that researchers involve and engage with the end user group in its development and evaluation.  In advocating for research, I am keen to encourage participation from the black and minority ethnic groups and participants from groups that are underserved.      

I bring this voice to nurse education and research in the Academy of Nursing at the University of Exeter where I chair the Patient and Public Involvement Advisory Group.  We have a strong voice in the education and practice of our future nurses and I celebrate this.

Born in Wales, but was brought up in South East London.  I gained a doctorate in Chemistry from Oxford before working in the electronics industry.  Here I helped develop LEDs, and components for fibre optic systems.  I ultimately became Director of Product Development for a division of a multinational telecommunications company.  I was fortunate that this gave me the opportunity to travel widely.  After taking early retirement, I mentored start-up and small businesses.  I also took on a part time role caring for people with learning difficulties.  More recently, I have become interested in helping to improve the health services in a lay role.  As such, I have become a public contributor to a range of NIHR and UKHSAS projects and committees.