Heather began her career as an Assistant Warden in a Bail Hostel for Oxfordshire Probation and Aftercare service, living and working in a newly furbished Bail hostel overlooking Christchurch Cathedral in Oxford!  It was a great grounding for a career in health and social care and since then Heather has worked in Local Government, the NHS and in the voluntary sector having qualified as a social worker in 1980.

Over the years Heather has also had experience of the NHS as a patient having had some health problems and had family and friends who have spent time in hospital with very mixed experiences, both good and bad.

She sees her role as Director of National Projects as a great opportunity to influence some of the changes needed in the health and social services. Having worked for big organisations, Heather knows how committed many of the staff are and yet how slow it is and hard to make an impact with such a lot of bureaucracy, targets, spreadsheets etc. The unique role of the Patients Association gives us the opportunity to really focus on what patients and carers are saying. So often it is the simple things, the basics of care that can make such a difference and that it what we are hoping to influence.  

Heather@patients-association.com