THE SPEAKERS

Sara Burr

Sara Burr, community dermatology nurse specialist, Norfolk Community Health and Care NHS Trust

I am delighted to work alongside and support Wound Care Today, which recognises the need to support and train nurses and patients to do their best in preventing and managing skin and wound breakdown.

Sara has worked as a dermatology specialist nurse for 25 years, both in secondary care and, more recently, community care settings. Having led an outpatient department, she now leads a community-based skin integrity team, comprising dermatology, tissue viability and lymphoedema nurses in West Norfolk. The maintenance of good skin integrity and the prevention of skin breakdown is the focus of each of these specialist areas of nursing care. She feels that this concept has helped them, as nurses, to think about preventative skin measures, rather than curative strategies once the problem has developed.
Sara is keen to impart her understanding of the importance of maintaining the skin barrier in the management of conditions such as eczema, as well as being the key to preventing other conditions such as pressure ulcer development and lymphorrhoea. She is passionate about teaching both patients, carers and healthcare professionals.

Pam Cooper

Pam Cooper, clinical director, Wound Care Today; nurse consultant in tissue viability, Healogics Wound Healing and Lymphoedema Centres; associate lecturer, Birmingham City University
 
Pam qualified as an RGN in 1990 and has worked in the field of wound care since. Her passion for wound care originated in her early days within burns and plastics.
She held the role of clinical nurse specialist in tissue viability with NHS Grampian for over 20 years, focusing on clinical, research and development and telemedicine. She worked as part of a dynamic team, which thrived under the constant changes within the field of tissue viability.
Having left the NHS in 2016, she now works as a tissue viability consultant and has a number of roles: nurse consultant in tissue viability for Healogics Wound Healing and Lymphoedema Centres – managing the telemedicine service; associate lecturer at Birmingham City University; and clinical director for Wound Care Today. All of these roles enable her to stay close to her passion for wound care.
 

Gemma Davies

Gemma Davies, clinical lead, Telford Wound Healing Service, Shropshire Community Health NHS Trust

I’m pleased to be involved in this fantastic conference and to have the opportunity to share my experience of working as a tissue viability specialist nurse across a number of roles and settings.

Gemma has been a tissue viability specialist nurse for 10 years. During this time, she has worked in a variety of healthcare settings and been able to combine her passions while gaining a wealth of skills, knowledge and experience in her specialist field. Recently, a great deal of her time has been spent in acute settings with a focus on pressure ulcer prevention, but her heart has always been in primary care and in the prevention and management of lower limb wounds. As clinical lead nurse for Telford Wound Healing service she has influenced a change in practice, which has resulted in a significant improvement in healing outcomes and patient quality of life.

Luxmi Dhoonmoon

Luxmi Dhoonmoon, nurse consultant tissue viability, Central North West London NHS Trust

WCT brings a wealth of specialist knowledge and skills under the same roof and promotes best practice to all practitioners with an interest in wound care. It is the platform we all need to develop and share knowledge and skills.

Luxmi completed her BSC (Tissue Viability Pathway) in 2010 and MSc in advanced practice in 2013, from St George’s University, London. She is currently enrolled on a PhD in public health and health promotion with the University of Nottingham.
She is passionate about wound care, mostly pressure ulcers, and introduced the Stop the Pressure campaign across the community to reduce harm in her local care homes and to reduce safeguarding concerns with regards to pressure ulcers. She also leads a team of eight tissue viability nurses to deliver a seamless service across the community both for ambulant and housebound patients and also in mental healthcare settings.
Luxmi won the Journal of Wound Care award for best clinical research in 2015 for making a difference in patients with chronic wounds while using topical oxygen therapy. She has contributed to several case studies and research to enhance clinical evidence forming the future of practice. Currently, her aim is to develop her clinical research further to improve public health and wound care in the community.

Veronica Doody

Veronica Doody, tissue viability nurse consultant, Healogics Wound Healing and Lymphoedema Clinic, Eastbourne

Wound Care Today provides an educational platform for clinicians to attend and gain clinical skill to help them develop their own practice.

Veronica has been a qualified nurse for 33 years, with the majority of this time practising in the community setting, initially as a district nurse, which is where she discovered her passion for wound care, particularly in leg lower limb ulcerations.
In 2005 she moved completely into the field of tissue viability and became the TVN for a community trust in South Staffordshire, where she practised until 2016.
Since 2017, Veronica has been employed as the tissue viability nurse consultant at Healogics Wound Healing and Lymphoedema Clinic in Eastbourne, which delivers a specialist chronic wound and lymphoedema service to the practice population of East Sussex.
Her passion is always striving towards positive healing outcomes for patients with both challenging and diverse needs. She does not believe that there are ‘non-concordant’ patients, only situations that have not been investigated and explored thoroughly.

Rachel Drago

Rachel Drago, advanced nurse practitioner in a General Practice in South Wales

Wound Care Today is a phenomenal resource for time-strapped, resource-diminished community and practice nurses who need quick and easy access to the best evidence base for the nursing care they can provide.

Rachel qualified BSc Hons and MSc from King’s College London in 1991 and 1993. Before working in primary care, she was a nurse lecturer in A&P and pharmacology, gaining her RNT in 1997. In 2006, she moved into practice nursing as she missed patient contact, and completed her PGDip in advanced clinical practice from the University of Swansea in 2010. She applied to the Queen’s Nursing Institute (QNI) and was made a Queen’s Nurse in 2014. Under the mentorship of Lymphoedema Network Wales, she realised a clinical passion for all humans wounded and swollen. She hopes through the ‘Best Practice Document’ care of these patients can be changed.

Dr Jemell Geraghty

Dr Jemell Geraghty, nurse consultant tissue viability, Camden Health Improvement Practice

I believe that WCT provides an innovative and dynamic platform in which to share best practice and learn from each other.

Jemell has worked in primary and secondary wound care services and has nearly 20 years of experience as a registered nurse working in tissue viability, vascular, older adult and emergency medicine nursing.
She was awarded a Professional Doctorate in Health Research (DHRes) from the University of Hertfordshire in 2018; the thesis was entitled Exploring the experiences of injecting drug users living with leg ulceration a qualitative study.
Currently, Jemell is leading a new wound-clinic pilot in central London for the provision of specialist wound care for people experiencing homelessness and those with a history of addiction.  In 2019, she was been appointed as visiting clinical teaching and module lead for tissue viability at King’s College, Florence Nightingale School of Nursing, Midwifery & Palliative Care London. Dr Geraghty sits on the editorial board for the British Journal of Nursing, Tissue Viability panel and has been involved with publishing and presenting on a national and international level. Dr Geraghty is passionate about inclusion health, nursing care and patient experience. 

David Gray

David Gray, clinical director, Healogics Ltd; professor of tissue viability, Tissue Viability Practice Development Unit, Birmingham City University
 
Professor Gray has spent the last two decades developing practice in the field of tissue viability across the UK.

Before joining Healogics, David was appointed as clinical nurse specialist in tissue viability, at the Department of Tissue Viability, NHS Grampian in 1994; a post he held until 2013. David served as clinical director of Wounds UK from 2005 until 2011, while also serving part time in the Department of Tissue Viability at NHS Grampian.
 
He was appointed as visiting professor of tissue viability at the Tissue Viability Practice Development Unit, Birmingham City University in 2011 and joined the staff as professor in May 2013.

Maria Hughes

I am delighted to be working with WCT to continue to be involved in delivering a high level of wound care education in an ever-changing healthcare system.

Maria has two roles, she is an independent tissue viability nurse consultant/Queen’s Nurse, with 18 years’ experience in tissue viability, and also head of medical services and wellbeing, North Wales Police. She continues to drive innovation in wound care, now in the custody setting with detainees instead of the NHS.

Maria continues to lecture worldwide and has just returned from presenting at the Gulf Wound Management Conference in Dubai.

Lorraine Jones

Lorraine Jones, tissue viability lead nurse, Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust, New Cross Hospital

 I am happy to be involved with Wound Care Today because of its commitment to reach out to others to enhance learning and support.

Lorraine’s career has been linked to wound care from the start. Her experience includes being a surgical ward nurse, district nurse, and lymphoedema specialist nurse. She has been a tissue viability lead nurse since December 2010 and an expert witness since 2018.
Lorraine has produced a tissue viability strategy plan at her trust and many pathways to support best practice across primary, secondary and community care. She is proud to work at the Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust, New Cross Hospital, Wolverhampton, which is a combined forward-thinking trust. Email: lorraine.jones12@nhs.net.

Monty Lymon

Monty Lymon, doctor and author of The Remarkable Life of the Skin
The Remarkable Life of the Skin, which was shortlisted for the Royal Society Science Book Prize, chosen as a BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week and a Sunday Times 'Must Read'.

He has worked in a world-leading dermatology laboratory, been the national head of undergraduate and junior doctor dermatology in the UK, has won several national prizes in dermatology and medical writing and has given many talks at national conferences. As a junior doctor in the Oxford deanery, he has worked on acute general medicine, care of the elderly and vascular surgery wards and understands first-hand the importance of good wound care. He lives in Oxford, England.

Kirsty Mahoney

Kirsty Mahoney, senior tissue viability nurse and operational programme improvement lead, Welsh Wounds Innovation Centre  
 
I never pass the opportunity to share knowledge and improve clinical knowledge. I am thrilled to be a part of the Wound Care Today conference, and believe that it will be an innovative and exciting conference.
 
Kirsty has been a tissue viability nurse in Cardiff and Vale University Health Board since 2007. Her background is in community nursing, where she was a district nurse team leader for 15 years. She obtained her MSc in wound healing and tissue repair in 2013, and became an independent prescriber in 2016. As clinical lead for wound care in the community, her remit was to ensure that high quality care was delivered to all patients within the community setting. She is passionate about improving education and knowledge in tissue viability for health and social care staff.
 
Kirsty is also an active member of the All Wales Tissue Viability Forum, which seeks to raise awareness of tissue viability across Wales. Her special interest is wound infection and reducing inappropriate usage of antimicrobial dressings.

Siobhan McCullough

Siobhan McCullough, consultant tissue viability nurse specialist and clinical support manager, OSKA

I am very happy to be part of the WCT conference, as it is in touch with current tissue viability agendas. It is an organisation which very much taps into the TVN’s voice, highlighting current themes in practice to form its agenda. This is making it current and in touch with tissue viability in the UK.

Siobhan has worked in health care for over 20 years in NHS community services in London. She relocated to the South West in 2018 and works across the UK as a tissue viability clinical support manager with OSKA and as an Independent consultant tissue viability nurse.

Susi McWilliam

Susi McWilliam is an anxiety expert, author, coach, healer, meditation and mindfulness coach
 
I am absolutely delighted to have the opportunity of connecting with you at Wound Care Today 2020. As a delegate at the conference, you are someone whose job it is to make the health needs of others a priority. I am keen to show you techniques and tools to support your own health and wellbeing, both at work and at home, thereby allowing you to show up as the best version of yourself in all areas.
 
Susie is founder of health consultancy, Spirit and Soul, training private and corporate clients in holistic approaches to supporting mental health. She is also owner of The Sanctuary, a health, wellbeing and creative space in the North East of Scotland.
 
Her goal is to share and empower others to find solutions to their anxiety, stress and ill health using the body’s innate power to heal naturally.
 
When not working with clients, Susi can be found outside connecting to nature, walking with her family and dog or spending time with her horses.

Robert McRobert

John McRobert, tissue viability nurse consultant, Healogics Wound Healing and Lymphoedema Centres.
 
John works as a nurse consultant with Healogics Wound Healing and Lymphoedema Centres. He has worked in wound care for over 20 years, mainly specialising in major burn wounds, pressure injuries and acute wounds .

He occasionally acts as an expert witness and writes defence medico-legal reports that help build defence cases against clinical negligence claims involving wound care and tissue viability.
 

Mole Digital

Mole Digital are the leading digital agency working in wound care. Over the past 20+ years the team at Mole have worked with hundreds clinicians to help them to create fantastic presentations and interviews on camera. Working alongside Wound Care Today, Mole produce the award-winning Facebook Live broadcasts. Mole’s team believe passionately that clinicians have great information to share and stories to tell and should not be scared of appearing on camera.
 
Join Mole in the studio on the exhibition floor and take the fear out of filming in a safe and supported environment.

Georgina Ritchie

Georgina Ritchie, principal lecturer in family, community and public health, University of Central Lancashire

I am pleased to be involved with Wound Care Today because my passion is working with generalist practitioners who are responsible for the majority of patient care. WCT is appealing to a broad professional group of practitioners, and this conference is a great opportunity to bring the evidence base and frontline practitioners together.

Georgina has a special interest in district nursing practice and the variety of complex clinical practice, such as lower limb care and diabetes, that are managed within district nursing. Previously, Georgina has been an NHS district nurse and modern matron for district nursing services. She trained and served as a registered nurse in the British Army some years ago, working in both UK mainland military health care and overseas on operational duties. In 2017, Georgina received the title of Queen’s Nurse for her commitment to leadership and learning in district nursing practice.
Georgina is passionate about the empowerment of generalist in clinical practice and dedicated to developing confidence through education.

Alison Schofield

Alison Schofield, lead tissue viability nurse and quality matron for pressure ulcer prevention, North Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation trust

Sharing knowledge about good practice among clinical colleagues is so important to me and in an environment, which is accessible to attend. Wound Care Today offers opportunity for real world education from clinicians for clinicians.

Alison is currently employed as lead tissue viability nurse and quality lead for pressure ulcer prevention for North Lincolnshire NHS Foundation Trust.
 
She has actively been actively involved in National projects with NHSI Stop the pressure development of a new educational framework, National Stop the Pressure Programme and the new National Wound care strategy.
 
Alison is interested in the biomechanical forces in pressure ulcer development and early interventions for prevention. Leading a pressure ulcer prevention team for three years in Bradford she gained vast experience in this area, including use of pressure mapping equipment. She completed an evaluation of low friction fabric garments and prevention, which was published in the British Journal of Nursing in 2018.
 
Alison enjoys presenting on the outcomes of implementations at events and conferences, and is an active social media participant for promotion of prevention in practice. She is also co-founder of #TVN2gether, supporting other tissue viability members in the UK.
 

Helen Shoker

Tissue viability nurse

'I am delighted to support WCT, spending time with colleagues who are passionate about improving the life of those with, or at risk of,  wounds. The blend of practical and theoretical sessions, personal development and real life experience will stimulate and inspire.'

Remote area nursing in The Torres Straits Islands during the mid 1990s fired up my passion for wound care. While there, I cared for locals with infected tropical wounds and many diabetic foot ulcers, it was a far cry from nursing in the UK as a staff nurse on CCU.

On return to the UK I actively pursued a career within tissue viability, and have had an enjoyable and rewarding career to date. I have held clinical, research and leadership positions within the NHS; the tissue viability work my teams have undertaken has been recognised through three national awards.

Within wound care, I have worked both as a lone TVN across a number of acute hospitals and have also lead tissue viability services. The care of people with wounds remains a passion of mine.

Having held both consultant tissue viability nurse and executive director of nursing roles within the NHS, and worked within the wound care industry, I now provide consultancy within the NHS, private sector and commercial organisations.

I qualified as a registered nurse in 1991 and have maintained my NMC registration.

 

Julie Stanton

Julie Stanton, associate clinical director, Healogics Ltd

Julie has been a tissue viability nurse consultant since 1995. Before then, she was a district nursing team leader and paediatric nurse qualifying in 1986. She has worked as a primary care coordinator for the health authority and was responsible for developing and liaising with 24 general practices to target long-term conditions, including coronary heart disease, asthma, elderly care and diabetes.
In 1995 she became the tissue viability clinical lead for a new community tissue viability service in Birmingham, where she developed a nursing home tissue viability service, leg ulcer clinic provision a pressure reducing equipment service and a lymphoedema service. She is a qualified FG lymphoedema therapist and nurse prescriber. She then went on to become the clinical lead for the TV service in south Staffordshire, developing further leg ulcer clinics and nursing home TV services.   

Julie has been in her current role for five years as an associate clinical director with Healogics, where she is responsible for the development of guidelines, policies, protocols and training programmes for her nursing team. She has produced a diploma TV course and is also a guest lecturer on the Leg ulcer module at Birmingham City University and a trainer for the lymphoedema training academy.
Her passion is combining the specialisms of tissue viability and lymphoedema to improve the care of patients with leg ulceration due to chronic oedema. 

Lisa Turley

Lisa Turley, clinical strategic manager, ConvaTec

‘I am delighted to work with Wound Care Today, as I feel wound care is ever-changing and patients should have access to the best possible care, which is only possible if clinicians are updated through best practice education, which Wound Care Today provides.’

Lisa has been in her current role with ConvaTec for six months. Her primary aim is to support quality, efficiency and innovation in wound care through education, audit and evidence generation.

Before this, she worked as a tissue viability nurse for 20 years, leading services across hospital and community settings for the past 10 years.
 

Justine Whittaker

Justine Whitaker, director and nurse consultant, Northern Lymphology Ltd; senior lecturer, University of Central Lancashire.
 
Being involved in WCT 2020 gives me an opportunity to share my knowledge and expertise with so many others, a passion of mine.
 
With 26 years’ experience working clinically in the field of lymphology, Justine is established both in the UK and internationally. She is author to many publications in the medical press, both journals and books. In 2007, Justine won the Royal College of Nursing Journal – Nursing Standard ‘Nurse of the Year’ and the Innovation in Cancer award, sponsored by the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust. This was for the invention, development and bringing to the international market of the ‘Whitaker Pouch’, a compression garment for scrotal oedema.
 
Justine was appointed senior lecturer at the University of Central Lancashire, Preston in December 2007. In January 2008, she was appointed director and nurse consultant of her own company — Northern Lymphology Ltd. In both these roles, Justine works clinically, is research active, and lectures internationally.
 
She also sits on the editorial board of a number of journals, and is a member of the scientific committee of the British Lymphology Society (BLS). 
 

Dr Kevin Woo

Dr Kevin Woo, associate professor, Queen’s University, School of Nursing, School of Rehabilitation therapy in Kingston, Ontario

I am so delighted to be involved in the WCT conference because this is a great networking opportunity to learn from experts from across the globe.

Kevin is regional director, North America of the International Skin Tear Advisory Panel (ISTAP). He is also the web editor for the Advances in Skin and Wound Care website (http://journals.lww.com/aswcjournal) and has authored or co-authored over 130 peer-reviewed publications, books, book chapters, white papers and proceedings.

Carla Zanichelli

Carla Zanichelli, lymphoedema specialist physiotherapist, University of London Hospital

I am very honoured to be collaborating in raising awareness of the importance of exercises in lymphoedema and chronic oedema, which is an important aspect of treatment and maintenance to achieve healthier lower limbs.

Carla specialised in lymphoedema in 1999 in Catalonia but, to get further experience, decided to work abroad. She was given the opportunity to work at University College London Hospitals in 2007, where she has been since then. Her knowledge of lymphoedema has been gained in the UK and Germany, with experience teaching her that exercises and positioning are key aspects for the management of lymphoedema and chronic oedema.