I am a Consultant in Paediatric Neurodisability at Great North Children’s Hospital, looking after children with epilepsy and a range of neurodevelopmental conditions including autism. I have set up some innovative external projects with voluntary sector collaboration including an autism music therapy group with Sage Gateshead music venue and post diagnostic support initiatives with the North East Autism Society.

I am a member of the NHS England Strategic Coproduction Group; a small group of people with ‘lived experience’ who have undertaken training and selection to work with NHSE England on a national level. They have meaningful involvement in shaping NHS Personalised Care policy, developing and delivering training to professionals, championing Personalised Care and provide feedback to NHSE about how things are working ‘on the ground’. I am a passionate advocate of PHBs and Coproduction, which recognise the expertise of people with long term health difficulties and enable them to design solutions. I am chair of the National Advisory group for the PHB Quality Framework.

I am an Associate Lecturer at Newcastle University medical school and also deliver postgraduate training including the national Paediatric Epilepsy Training programme. I have published about diverse topics including heart transplantation in Down’s syndrome, sleep deprivation in parents of children with disabilities and the Universal Personalised Care comprehensive model.

As well as NHS posts, I spent 2 years setting up a paediatric services in Turks and Caicos Islands and 8 months working on Grand Cayman.