Meet Lesley, our volunteer

Background

I spent my working life as a Registered Nurse.  I worked in clinical care from 1977 through to 2002.  As a nurse I worked in hospitals in Guildford, London, Exeter and Leeds.  I then began working as a Senior Lecturer in Nursing from 2002 to 2022, at the University of the West of England in Bristol, Coventry University at their campus in Scarborough and finally for Teesside University in Middlesbrough.  I finally retired in February 2022.

How did you first hear about Healthwatch North Yorkshire?

I first heard about Healthwatch North Yorkshire not long after I moved to North Yorkshire in July 2018.  This was when I was working as a lecturer in Nursing in Scarborough.  A colleague showed me some work completed by Healthwatch which used a map of the A170 running from Thirsk to Scarborough with the life expectancy ages of men and women shown along the route.  The highest life expectancies for men and women were in Thirsk and the lowest in Scarborough.  Life expectancy decreased as you moved east.  I felt this was a really brilliant way to demonstrate a real public health issue.  My colleague suggested I volunteer.

What made you want to become a volunteer?

My colleague suggested I volunteer with Healthwatch as she felt I had something to offer as I had, over the previous 20 years, undertaken a number of health and social care related projects.  I felt it would be an exciting thing to do so and I thought I had some useful knowledge and skills so I applied, and having met Lada who organises the volunteers I became a volunteer too. 

What volunteering projects are you involved with?

Once I retired in February 2022, I started becoming more involved with Healthwatch North Yorkshire and took part in a number of events and projects.  The largest so far has been a review of continence services across North Yorkshire.  I enjoyed the chance to work with the research officer Alicia who did a great job co-ordinating our work for the report, the other volunteers.  Another project was a review of clinical services at NHS hospitals across North Yorkshire.

I’m now getting more involved with other projects.  I will be attending one of North Yorkshire Council’s dementia strategy engagement events to feedback the discussion about the strategy and how the priorities have been achieved to Healthwatch.  I think this work is so important.  There is new research around dementia that looks exciting and I am looking forward to being involved.  Other projects that I am keen to be part of are the Urgent Treatment Centres and the Enter and View Projects.

Finally, how would you sum up your experience as a volunteer?

It has allowed me to still feel involved in the health and social care sector, but from the other side of the fence.  I’ve had to look at issues as a consumer rather that someone who delivers services.  It’s been a steep learning curve in some ways but it’s been one that I have enjoyed and found fulfilling.