• Karen is a very empathic and creative person with extensive administrative experience, gained in a variety of roles since commencing work in 1980, and following study and training through a college-based Senior Secretarial/PA course in the late 1970s. All of these roles involved team work to achieve common goals and deadlines.

    In the early 2000’s, Karen secured a job as an administrator working for a respiratory team within her local NHS Trust. This role involved daily contact with patients and organising the respiratory team’s activities, both inside and outside of the Trust. A large part of this role was to organise and evaluate medical events to update HCPs on current guidelines and treatment diagnosis and options, as well as patient forums to help them better understand their condition. As a creative person, Karen would be responsible to work closely with her medical colleagues to devise documents for use both inside and outside the Trust settings (for both primary and secondary care). Many of these documents proved to be a valuable addition to the patient treatment pathway.

     

    “I am an SDHC patient, diagnosed in 2017. Ultimately, this caused a carotid body tumour, known as a paraganglioma. The tumour has since successfully been removed and my journey navigating through this health condition has been complicated and sometimes challenging, but it has provided me with knowledge and experience that I wish to use to help others. I used to work for the NHS as an administrator dealing with patients on a daily basis and my passion lies with helping others wherever possible. AMEND does excellent work and I feel that I would like to support their endeavours.”