This week we welcome Sarah Turnbull to the Clinical and Senior Management Team at Willow Burn Hospice. Find out more about our new recruit in this introduction from Sarah herself.
Hello, my name is Sarah Turnbull, and I am delighted to introduce myself as the new Head of Clinical Services at Willow Burn Hospice.
I come with a lot of experience in clinical and managerial healthcare provision spanning over a 30-year career. I have developed considerable expertise in the management of interdisciplinary and multi-skilled teams giving cohesive support to those directly and indirectly affected by a life limiting illness. My professionalism of working collaboratively, providing compassionate care for patients and their families and compassionate leadership are interwoven throughout my clinical and leadership roles.
Whilst I have always valued direct patient and public contact, my managerial and academic progression has endowed me with the skills to provide the strategic governance and operational leadership within some of my recent roles
From an education perspective I graduated in 2011 with BSc (Honours) in Practice Development (Palliative Care). I have also completed training in I) clinical skills at Sunderland University in 2013 and ii) non-medical prescribing at Northumbria University in 2014. I took a MSc at Teesside University in Global Leadership and Management in Healthcare in 2022.
My early career involved working within the hospice environment at junior and senior level in a clinical capacity where I developed and honed my palliative and end of life care clinical expertise then as a Community Clinical Nurse Specialist in Palliative Care within Primary Care.
I have strong interpersonal and communication skills acquired from my years working clinically and strategically. These skills were vital during my role within the ambulance service as a Macmillan Nurse/End of Life Care Facilitator which was a region-wide role.
More recently I was Senior Nurse for the Palliative Care Service for Newcastle Hospitals managing four teams across the acute trust and within the community.
I have no doubt my palliative and end of life care experience, knowledge and skills will be of huge benefit to my role within Willow Burn Hospice. I am excited to see what the future holds and look forward to meeting all of our partners in the healthcare community.
Sarah
