Michaela is a cardiovascular nurse specialist with a unique and varied experience across the NHS and beyond. She developed her passion from prevention over 25 years ago and has worked within it ever since. In 2016 she left public health after working in the field for 16 years and now focuses on 3 main areas, as a Founder of LWN, Associate in Nursing for C3 Collaborating for Health and Director at Smart Health Solutions.

She is the Chair of the Health Care Committee of Heart UK and an invited member of both the Nurses and The Guidelines and Information working party of the British Hypertension Society, elected member of the Association of Cardiovascular Nurses and Allied Health Professional Education working party, on a variety of editorial boards and the Global Cardiovascular Nursing Leadership Forum. Being a Trustee at PoTS UK keeps her firmly rooted in the challenges patients face in living with life altering conditions.

Mark is an experienced business leader and healthcare consultant. In a career spanning 35 years, he has built up an extensive portfolio of work within the NHS and beyond.

His strength lies in his ability to confidently lead major projects and teams to positive outcomes, including the delivery of a Cardiovascular Screening Programme for staff at a major UK plc across 16 locations; a 3 borough Community Health PAS solution and a 3 site RIS/ PACS system deployment, both within the NHS.

As Managing Director, he always seeks to build and develop close relationships with customers and associate companies, working in partnership to achieve mutual goals.

Claire is a newly qualified General Practice Nurse and GPNSNN Ambassador. She qualified from Birmingham City University and has 12 years healthcare experience in a range of settings including: Sexual health and family planning, Elderly care homes with dementia, and working with young adults with learning disabilities. During her time at university she won inspirational student of the year, received a high achievers scholarship and raised over £1,000 for the Cavell Trust charity.

Claire has written articles for best in practice nursing and RCNi and also did a talk at the nursing times careers event in 2019. Claire also has her own blog site and YouTube channel where she shares advice, tips and information for other student nurses but also positive motivation to inspire more people into nursing.

Debbie qualified as a general nurse in 1994. A large part of her career has been based in primary care and general practice. Having started as a practice nurse, Debbie developed a passion for respiratory care and spent many subsequent years as a specialist nurse and team leader for a community based multidisciplinary respiratory service. In 2005 she obtained her independent nurse prescriber qualification and a degree in Long Term Conditions management. With a wealth of skills and experience, Debbie now works clinically as an Advanced Community Practitioner, managing patients with complex long term conditions.

Additionally, Debbie worked as a Covid Support Nurse with Smart Health Solutions during the height of the pandemic. With a passion for teaching, she also provides both clinical and non-clinical education nationwide, as a independent trainer.

Helen is the National Speciality Adviser for CVD Prevention at NHSE&I and is working on delivery of the CVD ambitions for AF, Blood Pressure and Cholesterol in line with the Long-Term Plan.  Helen has worked as a CVD specialist for more than 25 years in hospital, community, and primary care settingsShe was clinical adviser to the national AF AHSN programme and developed the pharmacist-led virtual clinic model to optimise uptake of anticoagulation in AF, which is now being spread nationally through the NHSE AF demonstrator programme. She is currently also working at UCLP on the development and implementation of proactive care frameworks for long-term conditions to support primary care in the post COVID-19 environment.

Judy is a Diabetes Specialist Nurse with over 20 years’ experience in all aspects of diabetes management, working across primary and secondary care.

She commenced her current role as an independent Diabetes Nurse Consultant in 2016, delivering educational services across North West London. An essential part of this service is follow up and mentorship in the clinical setting.

Judy has developed a passion for prevention and management of type 2 Diabetes by lifestyle measures. She has developed and run low carbohydrate, healthy fat patient education groups – some of the participants have put their diabetes into remission, after attending the group.  Judy believes strongly that the updating and upskilling of nurses, HCA’s and other health care professionals is crucial to improve patient care and outcomes.

Judy has authored several publications in the last 2 years in the nursing press. Judy served on the committee of the Primary Care Diabetes Society for 4 years from 2007.

Morven is a nurse with almost 30 years of experience within a plethora of nursing roles mainly within the NHS in Scotland but also include working in third sector, further and higher education, New Zealand Health Service and private healthcare.

She currently works as the National Cardiac Audit Coordinator within Public Health Scotland. This role involves establishing national cardiology audits in Scotland to drive quality improvement and assurance across primary and secondary care for those living with or at risk of cardiac disease.

She has developed cardiology expert knowledge from a variety of specialist nursing roles in both primary and secondary care including arrhythmia, chest pain and cardiac rehab roles. She is a values based nurse with a passion for quality improvement and worked within unscheduled care QI team throughout the pandemic.

She has always believed that education improves care and as such has worked as a lecturer in higher and further education and is currently involved in the general practice nurse education delivery in NHS Education Scotland and is an honorary lecturer at Glasgow Caledonian University.

Morven has been involved in the development of national guidelines including SIGN and has written articles for several health care journals.

Naomi trained at UCLH, with further training at the University of Glasgow. She developed an interest in Cardiovascular disease more than 25 years ago while setting up a new Hypertension Service at the Royal Free Hospital. Naomi was part of the Development group for NICE 127 and the Topic Expert Group for Hypertension. She has recently retired from the post of Lead Nurse at Peart Rose Clinic part of Imperial Colllege Healthcare Trust, but continues to take an active part in the Nurses and Allied Professionals Working Party of the British and Irish Hypertension Society, and was awarded Fellowship of the Society in 2016, she facilitated the set up of Project Malawi with the BIHS, and was a primary developer of the Omron Academy.

In the last year, Naomi turned her hand to Co-ordinating Covid -19 Support Nurses with Smart Health Solutions and hopes to continue teaching with Learn with Nurses.

Sam Olden is a Chartered Physiotherapist and Exercise Scientist that specialises in preventative healthcare and cardiac rehabilitation. Sam works in an independent clinic on Harley Street leading a team of nurses and exercise specialists who deliver specialist exercise and lifestyle interventions. He has a particular interest in the use of exercise and lifestyle change alongside medication in management and prevention of hypertension.

Sam’s experience has involved work in both private healthcare and the NHS as well as both practical and research-based projects. He also takes an active interest in developing and leading education programmes specialising in exercise and cardiovascular disease. Sam is also the Chair for Nurses and AHPs Working Party for the British and Irish Hypertension Society.

Zoe qualified as a Registered Nurse in 1995 and as a Nurse Independent Prescriber in 2007. Her background is mainly in Cardiology and Clinical Pharmacology and she has been involved in research throughout her career. She is a member of The British and Irish Hypertension Society (BIHS) and was previously a committee member of the BIHS Nurses and Allied Health Professionals Working Party. In this role, Zoe was responsible for the organisation of non-medical prescribing study days and cardiovascular risk updates for nurses and pharmacists.

She has a strong interest in exploring the attitudes and health belief systems that drive behaviour so that this can be used as the starting point for culturally sensitive health education.

She is a Florence Nightingale Foundation Travel Scholar and went to Sylhet and Dhaka in Bangladesh to explore the health beliefs and practices of Bangladeshis in the UK and in Bangladesh using heart disease as a model. She has recently started refresher Sylheti lessons as she is returning to work in East London on a research study.

She joined the Learn With Nurses team in August 2022 as the Quality and Effectiveness Lead.

Una qualified as a Registered General Nurse in London in 1988 and later passed the NCLEX exam to licence as an RN in the USA.

Her background is varied, having spent many years working in the community for District Nursing and School Nursing in the London area, whilst maintaining acute skills in medical and surgical care within the private sector. She later transferred permanently to a busy NHS Intensive Care Unit where she embraced the challenge of learning new skills and extending her knowledge.

As an experienced vaccinator, Una was able to easily return from early retirement during the pandemic to support the COVID-19 vaccines delivery plan. She also joined Smart Health Solutions at this time, initially as a Covid-19 Support Nurse and then as the Support Lead during the height of the pandemic and beyond, in addition to assisting in the delivery of the Health Protection and Care Champions Network.

2021 saw Una joining the ‘Nurses Working Party’ for the British and Irish Hypertensive Society Scientific Conference, responsible for tweeting live updates on behalf of We Nurses to raise awareness of Blood Pressure. Similarly, Una was also responsible for raising awareness of cholesterol through We Nurses at Heart UK conferences since 2022 and was the driving force behind growing LWN on social media platforms in her role as Communications and Engagement Lead.

Education is a priority for Una having achieved a Master of Science Degree in Medical and Healthcare Education, in addition to PGCE and PGDip in the subject. She loves the diversity that nursing brings with the opportunity to change direction no matter what your age or experience, to broaden your knowledge and skills. Her passion for promotion, as well as delivery of teaching, is pivotal in her current role as Operations Manager for both Smart Health Solutions and Learn With Nurses.

David Okoro is an Education Consultant, Coach and Trainer who designs his own programmes and works with young people and adults in schools, colleges, universities, business and community organisations.

He is passionate about delivering a holistic training approach, incorporating wellbeing and physical health. In particular, David has a keen interest in mental health, especially amongst BAME communities.

David has delivered programmes to over one hundred thousand people in the UK and abroad.

David has also advised government departments (including Department for Communities and Local Government and Cabinet Office), and was a key contributor to the Reach Report. He is a school governor and use to run his own charity which provided scholarships, text books, exercise books and pencils for young people in West Africa (Sierra Leone and Nigeria).

David is the founder and director of Westside and Lewisham Young Leaders academies. Their role is to provide leadership and educational opportunities to young people, and raise their confidence and aspirations.

David was also the chairperson of the Anthony Walker Foundation (a charity promoting diversity and tackling hate crime), and was a director of the Nubian Times Newspaper.

Danny is the Financial Controller for Smart Health Solutions, managing all of our financial transactions and accounts.

Dr Vikram Talaulikar is a Specialist in Reproductive Medicine at University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Hon. Associate Professor in Women’s Health at the University College London.

He graduated in medicine in India in 2003 and completed postgraduate degree in obstetrics and gynaecology in 2007.

He is a fellow of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and completed PhD degree at St. George’s University of London in 2016.

His clinical interests include reproductive endocrinology, polycystic ovary syndrome, recurrent miscarriage, premature ovarian insufficiency, and menopause.

He is a certified ‘menopause specialist’ by the British Menopause Society.

He has published widely in Reproductive Medicine and Menopause. He is a member of the British Fertility Society, European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology, British Menopause Society, and International Menopause Society.

He runs a busy menopause and PCOS clinic at UCLH and Menopause Clinic London on Harley Street. He is a Principal trainer for FSRH Menopause SS module and a trainer for BMS principles and practice of menopause care programme.

Becky is an awarding business consultant who is passionate about women’s health and digital health technologies. She has experience working with the National Health Service and Industry in the UK on both a local and national level. Becky has 25yrs commercial leadership and change management experience across several industries. She is an expert in strategy and stakeholder engagement, and her work with clients supports successful product launches and market access planning, as well as care pathway redesign and digital transformation strategy design and implementation.

I am passionate about sharing any knowledge I have, to teach and inspire others. I deliver webinars for PHE on physical activity as a clinical champion and have been asked to write a chapter of a book for Professor Sue Thompson from Nottingham University on Physical activity after she attended one of my webinars for her students. 

 

I enjoy engaging with others and feel that I have a lot to offer,  I am very patient-focused, and patient-led consultations are the key to my consultations, I would like to share how I do this and utilise the great resources out there such as” Language matters “ within the education sessions I offer. I would like to deliver lifestyle medicine pillars for staff wellbeing and for that knowledge to then be part of consultations with patients in the “Making every contact count” philosophy. 

Sally is the British Association for Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation (BACPR) Executive Director and Education Director responsible for supporting the BACPR executive committee across all aspects of the work of the association and responsible for the expanding education programme including the BACPR Exercise Instructor qualification, range of CPD courses and online webinars.

She is both founder chair of the ACPICR (Association of Chartered Physiotherapists interested in Cardiac Rehabilitation) and the BACPR Exercise Professionals Group committee.

Sally has been involved with the development and review of many national guideline documents within the speciality including the BACPR Standards and Core Components for Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation, a key document for the cardiovascular prevention and rehabilitation programmes within the UK and currently sits on the NHS England Cardiac Rehab Expert Advisory Group.