Meet the Team

Joanna Grant

Forum Chair

Joanna qualified as an RGN/RSCN in 1991 at Great Ormond Street hospital and has a wide-ranging background in both the NHS and the Independent sector. Choosing to work in the community very early on in her nursing career, Joanna has worked in a variety of settings such as special needs schools, children’s community nursing and Children’s Continuing Care.

She was a Chief Nurse in a large corporation providing homecare across the UK and now works as a consultant advisor to those working with children, young people and adults in the places they live and work, including hospices, residential homes/schools/colleges, and family houses. 

Joanna is passionate about supporting people to achieve their chosen goals whilst remaining in their preferred environment; she supports nurse-led care, especially for those with complex needs and is an advocate for those people who need care at home and for the nurses and carers that provide this.

Please see Joanna's LinkedIn profile for more information. 

Nicola Dean

Nicola qualified from University College London in association with Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital as a Children's Nurse in 1996. She worked within acute paediatrics until 1998 when she moved to work within Children's Hospice and Palliative Care services, with Nicola working in a variety of services for 17 years including working for Children's Hospices UK from 2007 until it became Together for Short Lives in 2011.

Nicola returned to acute paediatrics for a spell in 2015 before moving to work as the Matron at Chailey Clinical Services which is co-located with Chailey Heritage Foundation School supporting children with complex and often fluctuating healthcare needs in 2018. Here she managed the nursing services including a respite service, rehabilitation service and the school nursing team which also supported the residential aspect of the school.

In July 2023 Nicola moved to the Service Lead role for a short break service which supports children with complex healthcare needs and / or challenging behaviour. The cohort of children accessing the service is very diverse and Nicola is working closely with social care colleagues to shape the service to support all service users whilst ensuring that the care given is evidence based and of a high standard.

Nicola is passionate about raising awareness of continuing care needs within the community, especially for children with complex needs including those with learning disabilities and challenging behaviour. Nicola is also passionate about ensuring that everyone is able to make their voice heard around their care needs.

Rebecca Connolly

Clinical Director for Carebridge Staffing, Complex Homecare Provider
 
Following a period of time working in Accident and Emergency at Sheffield Children’s Hospital I relocated to London. I have worked as a Registered Children’s Nurse within the community setting since 2013 supporting children and young people with significant and complex health needs to live in their own home. I am passionate about personalising their care based around what matters to them. 
 
In 2020, Carebridge became the first recognised homecare provider by the NMC to support Nursing Apprenticeships. I took on the role of Practice Assessor to raise awareness of Children’s Community Nursing whilst continuing to support the future nursing workforce. 
 
I feel grateful to have chosen a career with life-long learning opportunities and keep continuing professional development at the forefront of my nursing practice. I look forward to championing continuing and community care with the RCN. 

Tamsyn Henvest

Tamsyn qualified from Southampton University as a Children’s Nurse in 2002. She worked in neonates and acute paediatrics before joining a children’s continuing care team in Portsmouth in 2006.

Tamsyn went on to complete her Specialist Practitioner Qualification in Children’s Community Nursing and moved home to Cornwall in 2009 where she managed the Children’s Community Nurses, and later the Diana Nurses, and Special School Nurses.

In 2021, as a children’s nurse who loves teaching and sharing knowledge, Tamsyn decided to become a lecturer in child health at the University of Plymouth. Whilst she enjoyed her time in higher education, she missed clinical practice and therefore in 2023 she returned to the community setting as Practice Development Lead. In this role Tamsyn works across children’s community nursing, special school nursing, short breaks and peadiatric epilepsy nursing. She is in a position where she can help shape services and ensure that care given is of a high standard and evidence based.

During Tamsyn's career she feels incredibly privileged to have worked with some amazing children’s nurses who go above and beyond for the children and families in their care. As a member of the CYP: Continuing and Community Care forum she is looking forward to being able to support the development of services for this cohort of children and young people across the UK.

Kate Medhurst

Community Children’s Service  Manager, Shropshire Community Health Trust

Kate qualified as a RSCN in 2003 and went on to undertake the BSc(Hons) Specialist Practitioner (Community Children’s Nursing) in 2006. In 2014, she completed the NHS leadership Academy Mary Seacole Award (Post graduate Certificate in Healthcare Leadership). 

Kate started her CCN journey in South East London in 2006 until this year when she relocated and is experiencing service delivery amongst the challenges of rural living. Kate is now the Service Manager for the Community Children’s Nursing Service for Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin which encompasses CCN, Special Schools, Respite, Immunisation and Vaccinations and Children’s Diabetes Teams.

Kate is an active member in local and national forums to benchmark and explore areas of good practice. 

Kate is passionate to increase awareness of Community Children’s Nursing as a field of practice and has worked closely with the local universities to deliver sessions about what the role is as well as joining lectures on long term condition to demonstrate the community pathways.

Rachel Wood

I have been a qualified Children’s Nurse since 1994, a Children’s Community Nurse in Devon since 2008 and working in a leadership role for the last eight years.

I have had a nursing career specialising in the fields of Children’s complex disability, Children’s Community Nursing and Palliative care. I have remained passionate throughout my career about giving families and children choice and control over their lives when they have to receive significant support and care.

I have championed the importance of understanding the lived experience of people with health needs, working together with family and child to develop a plan to move forward. I have managed nursing and healthcare staff in a range of roles and am committed to giving staff the support they need to care for patients in frequently challenging circumstances.

I would describe myself as being committed and passionate about children’s community nursing in all its forms, challenging of bureaucracy but a good problem solver. Others describe me as being a calm, independent thinker, with a non judgemental attitude.