Board Members

Since qualifying as a Registered General Nurse in 1987, Cheryl has worked in a wide variety of nursing roles. She has been a cancer nurse specialist in colorectal oncology, a cancer network patient/user facilitator and is currently the Clinical Risk and Practice Development Manager for Healthcare at Home Ltd. Cheryl has established nurse-led clinics in oncology and patient/user groups, for which she won an award in 2002. She is passionate about high-quality, patient-focused care and is involved in ongoing development of quality-improvement systems designed to review and maintain best practice. Cheryl has developed pathways for the management of patients experiencing sexual dysfunction after rectal surgery and radiotherapy, and has helped raise awareness of these issues since the late 1980s. As UK Oncology Nursing Society (UKONS) president, Cheryl works closely with nurses, pharmacists and other healthcare providers to deliver better care for oncology patients. Cheryl co-wrote the UKONS position statement on oral oncology, and has published papers on the benefits of home chemotherapy, the implementation of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting guidelines, and the importance of planned dose on time (PDoT) for chemotherapy.

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Maggie is the Past President of UKONS—a position she held until September 2010—and has been involved with UKONS since its inception. She has just begun a new role as Macmillan Development Manager for Macmillan Cancer Support. This is her first post outside the NHS. As a cancer nurse for over 20 years, Maggie has had a variety of roles in a number of cancer centres, including The Christie, the Royal Marsden and Imran Khan’s cancer hospital in Pakistan, where she worked for 4 months. At one time, she specialised in chemotherapy nursing and, following the completion of an MSc in clinical nursing, became a nurse clinician in ovarian cancer care. In this role, she was one of the first nurses in the country to undertake insertion of paracentesis drains. Before taking up her current post, Maggie was a consultant nurse for cancer care and lead cancer nurse—a role that opened many doors and provided much insight into the murky world of national cancer policy and strategy. As with all her previous roles, Maggie is hopeful that her new job will allow her to influence the clinical and social care of cancer patients and to maintain her passion as an advocate for cancer nursing and the crucial role it plays in caring for those affected by cancer.

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Natalie is Nurse Consultant for Cancer Rehabilitation at the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, London, and a founder member of the Living with and Beyond Cancer Forum. She is also actively involved in the National Cancer Survivorship Initiative. Natalie qualified as a nurse in 1984, and developed her interest in cancer survivorship working in paediatric oncology. She joined The Royal Marsden in 1996, and worked in a variety of roles. Currently, she leads the multi-professional Rehabilitation Outreach Team, and was recently appointed Older Person’s Champion for the trust. In addition, Natalie is a facilitator for specialist support and educational groups that enable patients to understand their cancer experience. She completed a Masters degree in 2005, and her dissertation—a concept analysis of cancer survivorship—has been published in the Journal of Advanced Nursing. Natalie has also presented both nationally and internationally. Currently, Natalie is studying for a Professional Doctorate in Nursing. Natalie is the current President Elect of UKONS.

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Elaine, Consultant Nurse in Chemotherapy at Southampton, has been a cancer nurse for over 20 years. She began her training in Liverpool in 1994, and then moved to the National Hospital for Nervous Diseases, in London. From there she went to Australia for a working holiday—and stayed for 10 years! It was in Australia that Elaine discovered her interest in oncology and gained extensive experience in medical oncology, haematology, bone marrow transplant and HIV nursing. She studied for an oncology certificate in the NSW College of Nursing and gained a degree in nursing from the University of Sydney. Her final roles in Australia were as a clinical nurse educator in a bone marrow transplant unit and a senior lecturer in the NSW College of Nursing. On returning to England, Elaine became a clinical nurse specialist for IV therapy in Southampton before moving into a managerial role as the senior nurse for the cancer care directorate and securing her current position in 2004. Continuing her academic career, Elaine gained a Masters degree from Portsmouth University and is now in her final year as a doctoral student. Her thesis in on non-medical prescribing—using fourth-generation evaluation to engage health service users to implement change. She has been responsible for several publications and has presented at local, national and international level. Elaine was recently elected vice chair of the UKONS Chemotherapy Forum, and is involved in the workforce section of the National Chemotherapy Action Group (NCAG). She has just completed being a clinical advisor for the National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome and death (NCEPOD) audit into deaths after systemic anti-cancer therapy. She is married, with 12-year-old twin boys and a 9-year-old daughter.

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Catherine is currently a Chemotherapy Nurse Consultant at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust in London. She has worked in cancer care for over 20 years as a clinical nurse specialist and lead cancer nurse and in general management. She has developed strategies for cancer patient involvement and health promotion. Her main area of interest is chemotherapy, in particular, chemotherapy network services, home support and oral chemotherapy (the topic of her research for her Masters degree). After developing a generic patient oral chemotherapy diary, Catherine and her colleague Jo Johnson were awarded the 2008 European Oncology Nursing Society prize for excellence in patient education materials and the 2009 Nursing Standard award for best practice in medication administration. Catherine has been an investigator and provided advice on national projects, including a review of cancer inpatient admissions, the National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome and Death within 30 days of systemic anticancer therapy and the Rapid Response Report on risks of incorrect dosing of oral anti-cancer medicines (2008).

Richard is currently a Teaching Fellow in the School of Nursing and Midwifery at Queen’s University Belfast. He has a longstanding interest in radiation oncology and the management of treatment side effects. His interests include patient information and cancer in the elderly. Richard has been directly involved in cancer nurse education for over a decade, having previously held a joint lecturing appointment at Queen’s and the Northern Ireland Cancer Centre. In this role he had regional input into cancer nursing development and was involved in a number of initiatives including chemotherapy competence and the development of nursing roles in cancer care. His interest in role development stems from his entry into cancer nursing in 1986, when he joined the Northern Ireland Radiotherapy Centre, then based at Belvoir Park Hospital in Belfast.

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Mhairi joined the UKONS Board in June 2009, and she represents Scotland. She is a Registered Nurse with 16 years’ post-registration experience, and is now Nurse Consultant Cancer Care in NHS Lanarkshire. Mhairi is currently undertaking qualitiative research exploring the experiences of diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer from the carers’ perspective. She actively participates in local, regional and national groups for cancer and is the co-chair of the National Lead / Consultant Nurse Cancer Group in Scotland. Mhairi’s current areas of interest are carers’ needs, people with malignant unknown primaries, living with and beyond cancer and the development of nurse-led services. She believes it is essential for UKONS members to share their expertise, increase their political awareness and proactively determine the future developments of cancer care—specifically nursing. As a new recruit to the UKONS Board, she looks forward with enthusiasm to working with colleagues from throughout the UK, in particular the UKONS Living With and Beyond Cancer Forum.

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Beryl has been Lead Oncology Nurse for the North East Wales NHS Trust and North Wales Cancer Network for the past 2 years. She qualified a Registered General Nurse in 1988, in Wrexham, before working as a staff nurse on a radiotherapy ward at the Clatterbridge Centre of Oncology in Merseyside. She became a Registered Mental Nurse in 1990, and then worked in the oncology and haematology day units at Ysbyty Gwynedd in Bangor and North Wales Cancer Treatment Centre for 10 and 4 years respectively. In her personal life, Beryl is married to Dafydd—they have two sons, Hari (6 years) and Huw (5 years) and they live on an organic farm in Conwy. Beryl’s hobbies include cycling and running.

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Sally is a senior nurse for cancer services for the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust which hosts the regional Cancer Centre for Northern Ireland. Her role spans primary, secondary and tertiary care, covering the patient pathway in its entirety, from pre-diagnosis through to palliative care and beyond. Sally trained as a nurse in Northern Ireland, but has practiced in countries as diverse as Italy and India. She has worked in a wide variety of roles, across most care settings, including the voluntary sector. She has also had responsibilities ranging from direct patient care, to developing new hospitals and services. Although Sally’s career began in orthopaedics, she experienced specialties such as cardiac surgery, cardiology, and most extensively, palliative care, before moving into a wider cancer care role in 2001. Sally’s particular interests are the interfaces between primary and tertiary care, and acute oncology services, such as A&E, general medicine and haemo-oncology.

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Helen Barlow was the Network Nurse/AHP Director for the Greater Manchester & Cheshire Cancer Network since June 2003. She trained at Guy’s hospital and has been involved in oncology ever since. Previous posts have been at the Royal Marsden, bank work whilst back-packing around Australia and Sister of the Oncology unit at Guys. She began her ascent up North to set up a chemotherapy service in Leicester. She moved to Manchester in 1994 to work as the CNS in breast care at the Christie Hospital. Whilst here she finished an MSc in Public Sector Management, and first became interested in the inequity of cancer service provision and quality. The Calman Hine Report had just been published and Helen went to work for the Calman Project Team at the North West Regional office. She led the Peer Review Process in the North West in 2002 and then spent a year at the Department of Health as the Implementation Lead for Nursing and Leadership. This gave her a broad view of health politics and an interest in leadership and staff development. Key responsibilities of Helen’s role are the implementation of strategies to improve cancer nursing services across the Greater Manchester and Cheshire Cancer Network. She is the nominated executive lead for Nursing and AHPs, Supportive and Palliative Care, peer review, User involvement, Children’s and Young People’s Cancers, and the current review of breast services across the network. She has co-chaired the National Network Nurse Director Group and was part of the project team shortlisted for the HSJ awards in 2008, with a fertility preservation project. Since the restructure of the cancer network in august 2009, her new role is the Clinical Director for quality and care.

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Nikki has been the Nurse Director for the Peninsula Cancer Network since January 2008. Since qualifying at Eastbourne , she has been involved in haematology and oncology care for over 17 years as a staff nurse, clinical nurse specialist and modern matron both at the Hammersmith Hospital and Kings College Hospital, South London.

Prior to relocating to Devon, Nikki was the Lead Cancer Nurse and Head of Nursing at Kings College Hospital, where she gained her MSc in Evaluation of Clinical Practice, focusing her research on chronic disease and sexual problems. Moving into a managerial role saw Nikki achieving a distinction for her PGDip Business Management.

Nikki has a specialist interest in all areas malignant and non-malignant haematology and has been one of the organisers for the nursing conference at the British Society of Haematology for many years. Now as the Nurse Director, Nikki is very keen on the quality of care provided to all cancer patients, ensuring it is at the heart of commissioning, working closely with PCT’s and Acute Trusts.