NNLDN Executive

 

 

Jan Thompson
RMN, RNMH, BSc, PGC
Senior Nurse – NHS Ayrshire and Arran

Jan Thomson trained as a Mental Health Nurse at Greater Glasgow College of Nursing and then worked as a Staff Nurse in a large Psychiatric Hospital in Glasgow. She then moved onto work in a Learning Disability Hospital which led to her registering as a Learning Disability Nurse. This meant a move to NHS Lanarkshire where she remained for the next 11 years working in a variety of areas and laterally within the community teams where she undertook part-time study to complete her BSc in health studies.

Jan moved to NHS Ayrshire and Arran in 2001 and has progressed from Charge Nurse to Community Team Coordinator and has been working as Senior Nurse in Learning Disabilities since 2009. During this time, Jan completed a Post Graduate Certificate in adults with significant and complex needs through distance learning at St Andrews University.

She has networked throughout Scotland through her previous roles as Chair and Secretary in the Scottish Community Learning Disability Nursing Network (SCLDNN). Jan is also a  member of the LD Health Inequalities Network and attends the Senior Nurse (Scotland) meetings. Jan joined the NNLDN as an Associate Director last year.

Wendy McGregor
RNMH, CNLD, BSc
Community Sister Learning Disability- Southern Health and Social Care Trust

Wendy qualified in 1995 with a Diploma in Nursing (Learning Disability branch) from Queen’s University Belfast.  Since qualifying she has worked in a Learning Disability Hospital and then moved to work in the private sector.   Wendy then took up employment as a community nurse and was seconded for a year where she obtained a First Class Honours Degree in Community Nursing in 2004 from the University of Ulster. Wendy has remained in community nursing and is employed as  a community learning disability sister in the Southern Health and Social Care Trust.
For the past three years she has been actively working on a project that aims to improve the quality of care for people with a learning disability in an acute hospital.  Wendy was awarded The National Network for Learning Disability Nurses 2008 award for her work as a learning disability nurse on the project.
Wendy was awarded the Directors of Nursing award as part of the Royal College of Nursing, Nurse of the Year awards June 2009.
She was part of a sub group who developed GAIN (Guidelines and Audit Implementation Network) Guidelines on Care of People with Learning Disability in a General Hospital Setting (2010)
Wendy has also been an active member of a steering group which developed a local strategy for Learning Disability Nurses in Southern Health and Social Care Trust.

 

Allyson Kent
Deputy Head of Nursing/Professional Lead for Learning disability nursing and Clinical Lead for Care Clusters/Payment by Results; Humber NHS Foundation Trust

Allyson started her career as a nursing assistant in 1980 at Brandesburton Hospital, undertaking her nurse training in learning disabilities in 1981.  She qualified as a specialist practitioner when studying for the BSc in Community Nursing.  She worked as a community nurses for a number of years.  Was successful in gaining a travel scholarship from the Florence Nightingale foundation to review the best practice with regards to ‘Helping parents with learning disabilities to parent’ this involved travelling to Los Angeles and Sydney, stopping in Fiji albeit briefly for well earned rest and relaxation.  In 1998 she became Head of Profession for learning disability nursing and in 2000 was seconded to the University of Hull as a regional training fellow, to undertake a 2 year evaluation; to understand the training needs of professionals working with people with learning disabilities, this included a brief to raise awareness of the people with learning disabilities within the acute hospital setting.  Allyson facilitated two regional conferences ‘sharing best practice in acute and primary care’ and sharing best practice in learning disabilities.   

Allyson provided professional advice to the Health Care Commission with the recent audit of learning disability services and to the Health Ombudsman with regards to the review of the Six Lives.  More recently her role has evolved into a wider nurse leadership role with regards to policy and practice within learning disability and mental health nursing. Allyson’s currently chairs a local access to acute group and a regional forum with colleagues from acute and learning disability services across Yorkshire, Humber and the North East. Allyson has written for publication with regards to improving access to acute issues for people with learning disability and mini-chapters within the handbook of intellectual disability nursing.  She reviews articles for Nursing Times and Learning Disability Practice. 

Allyson has gained her MSc in Leadership [2008] with a dissertation that evaluated the potential impact of coaching within the NHS. 

 

Andrew Luff
RNLD, MA
Dip Community Nursing, Dip SW

Andrew is currently the Locality Manager & Clinical Lead Nurse for NHS Bath & North East Somerset, Community Learning Difficulty Services. He has a long clinical background in Community Nursing and Multi Disciplinary Community Learning Difficulty Services. Most recently within an Integrated Health & Social Care Partnership Organisation.

In his Clinical/Professional role he acts as the Strategic Health Facilitator and is currently leading on the implementation of the Local DES programme and oversees the local Access to Acute (A2A) Action Plan.

He is also the Nurse member of the Professional Executive Committee (PEC) of the PCT, with a portfolio including Public Health approaches to Mental Health Services and Patient Experiences within the Acute Sector.

Andrew has a very strong commitment to networking and is Chair of the South West Region Learning Disability Nursing Network. He is the NNLDN Director of Finance.

 

Christine Hughes
RNID, RGN, RNT, M Sc (Developmental Disabilities), M Ed, H Dip (Learning Disability Studies), B A, Dip Project Management

Having completed a primary degree in languages, Christine Hughes trained in intellectual disability and general nursing in Dublin. After working as a staff nurse and as a ward sister, she undertook a master’s degree in education. She worked as a nurse tutor before taking up the first nursing careers officer post in Ireland at the Nursing Careers Centre in An Bord Altranais in 1999. 

She now works as a professional development officer in the National Council for the Professional Development of Nursing and Midwifery.  In this post she has completed a higher diploma in learning disability studies and a second master’s degree in developmental disabilities and developed an extensive electronic network of contacts in intellectual disability services throughout the country.  She has edited and managed the production of the National Council’s newsletter, and participated in other nursing and midwifery developments that are taking place against a background of health service reform.

Documents that she has written for the National Council include:

• Guidelines for Portfolio Development for Nurses and Midwives (1st, 2nd and 3rd editions, 2003, 2006 and 2009 respectively)
• Agenda for the Future Professional Development of Public Health Nursing (2005)
• Measurement of Nursing and Midwifery Interventions: Guidance and Resource Pack (2006); and follow-up web-based information in 2009
• Clinical Nurse Specialist and Advanced Nurse Practitioner Roles in Intellectual Disability Nursing: Position Paper No 2 (2006)
• The Introduction of Nurse and Midwife Prescribing in Ireland: An Overview (2007; published jointly by the National Council, the Dept of Health and Children, An Bord Altranais and the Health Service Executive)
• Clinical Nurse/Midwife Specialist Role Resource Pack (2nd ed, 2008, with the Health Service Executive).

She has contributed to the writing and editing of many of the National Council’s other publications, and has organised and advised on seminars of specialist interest (e.g., specialised intellectual disability nursing practice, interventions and outcomes measurement).

Current projects include development of information on careers in nursing/midwifery management with the Office of the Nursing Services Director, Health Service Executive, and the development of an electronic portfolio for postgraduate students at the School of Nursing, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland.

 

Duncan Mitchell

Duncan Mitchell holds a joint appointment as Professor of Health and Disability at Manchester Metropolitan University and Manchester Learning Disability Partnership. Duncan has previously worked in nurse education and also as a Community Learning Disability Nurse. Duncan is the author of papers on the history of learning disability and the health of people with learning disabilities. He is a member of the editorial boards of Learning Disability Practice and Nurse Education Today and editor of the British Journal of Learning Disabilities.

 

John Lutchmia

.John is a Senior Lecturer at Anglia Ruskin University with nearly forty years experience in health and social care. For the last twenty, he has been involved in the preparation of staff from pre registration to post graduate level including being external examiners for various universities. He is passionate about improving the lifestyles and participation of vulnerable people in decisions affecting their lives. This is reflected in his thesis entitled "Talking the Talk-Not delivering the Walk which is an explorations of inclusive practice within the mainstream education sector for young people with the label of learning disability.

 

Stephen Hughes
Head of Learning Disability Service – Betsi Cadwaladr University Local Health Board

Stephen has been in the above post – and similar posts in predecessor organisations since 1991. For twenty years, as well as managing Community Services, he has also had responsibility for overseeing the closure of long-stay hospitals –from the inside – and improving the lives of people who lived in them whilst awaiting closure, a matter which gives him some pride.

He has chaired the All Wales LD Advisory Group since 1992 and represents the group on the UK National Network for LD nurses.  Stephen was a member of the Planning Group to develop the continuation     of the All Wales Strategy (Fulfilling the Promises) and has participated in a number of national groups relating to specific areas within Learning Disability and Learning Disability Nursing on behalf of the Welsh Assembly Government.

 

If you would like further information regarding the NNLDN please contact the NNLDN Secretariat:

 

Tel: 01373 469 260

Fax: 01373 469 222

Email: Office@NNLDNConference.com