Catherine is a nurse with thirty five years experience in Birmingham, Leicester, Nottingham and Derby. Over the last twenty years she has worked in Primary Care.
From 1998 to 2012 she developed the concept of the nurse led general practice and under the auspices of the NHS (Primary Care) Act 1997, became the founder of the Meadowfields Nurse Led General Practice in Derby, UK. The surgery was developed on the two principles that the nurse would be the first point of contact for patients, and that the patient should see the most appropriate professional to help them with their problem.
To underpin this, she became a self-employed, independent contractor and employed all the members of the primary health care team, including reception staff, practice manager, nurses and general practitioner. Employing a GP was then – and still remains – a major departure for nurses.
After fourteen years, in March 2012, she retired from Meadowfields, but still believes that nurses have a strategic role within primary care and the commissioning agenda.
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