Our team of experts

Meet Deanna Lane

Deanna has worked as a nurse for 35 years and is registered with the Nursing & Midwifery Council. She has worked in hospitals as well as care homes, winning Care Home Manager of the Year in 2012.

Meet Carole Kerton-Church

Carole started her care and nursing career as a healthcare assistant in a nursing home in 1998. She has since managed a large residential care home and completed her Nursing Diploma at Anglia Ruskin University.

Meet Kathryn Mahon

Kathryn Mahon achieved her Diploma in Adult Nursing in 1996. In 2005, she obtained her BSc (Hons) in Specialist Community Public Health and then worked as a Health Visitor until 2015.

Meet Kerry Whittingham

Kerry has worked in many health settings since qualifying as a nurse, including the pharmaceutical industry, as a support worker and as a nurse advisor. As the future of nursing changes, she aims to keep patients cared for in their own homes for as long as possible.

Meet Rebecca Bennett

Rebecca has worked and studied within care for the past six years but was involved with personal care for relatives for many years prior to this. She always endeavours to make patient safety her top priority and aims to ensure that both her customers and their loved ones are happy and confident in the care that is being provided to them.

Meet Carmen Dussoye

Carmen has worked within care and nursing in various roles for 24 years. She considers being part of a person’s care and health journey a privilege and is passionate about supporting people to remain in their home environment along with promoting independence and choice.

Meet Lucy Childs

Lucy worked for Helping Hands as a carer in Plymouth while she completed her adult nursing degree, and during that time she developed her passion for delivering person-centred care for people in their own homes.

Meet Louise Bradley

With a wealth of care experience in both managerial and carer roles, Louise has worked closely with a variety of different conditions including dementia, Parkinson’s, and general elderly care, among many others.

Meet Samantha Grabham

Samantha has worked for Helping Hands for 27 years, joining as a live-in carer before progressing through the roles to Live-in Care Manager. Samantha has worked with an array of conditions, including dementia, stroke and Parkinson's.

Meet Wendy Sear

Wendy has worked in the healthcare sector for over 28 years in a range of different roles, such as an administrator for a group of care homes including drug and alcohol dependency, nursing and residential homes.

Meet Sarah Franklin

Sarah has a Bachelor of Arts in History and English, as well as a post-16 teaching qualification (DTLLS) and a Postgraduate certificate in professional education studies. She loves combining her passion for lifelong learning and creative writing and is both a dementia champion and content writer for Helping Hands.

Meet Mark Dallas

Dr Dallas joined the School of Pharmacy at the University of Reading in 2013. He began his scientific career at the University of Dundee, before moving south to carry out a PhD at the University of Leeds.

Meet Brendan McCormack

Professor Brendan McCormack is Head of The Susan Wakil School of Nursing and Midwifery (inc. Sydney Nursing School) and Dean Faculty of Medicine and Health at the University of Sydney

Meet Raj Senniappan

Raj trained as an occupational therapist in India and moved to UK in 2005, starting his career as a junior occupational therapist at the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading. When he initially qualified, Raj worked in India for about two years before moving to the UK.

Meet Snorri Rafnsson

Dr. Snorri Bjorn Rafnsson BSc (Hons.), MSc (Edin), PhD (Edin), PGCHE, FHEA, FRSPH (UK) currently serves as Associate Professor of Ageing and Dementia in the Geller Institute of Ageing and Memory, School of Biomedical Sciences at the University of West London.

Meet Judith Sixsmith

Judith Sixsmith is currently Professor of Health-Related Research in the School of Health Sciences at the University of Dundee. Her research focuses on ways of improving the health and wellbeing of older people marginalised within social systems.

Meet Baroness Ilora Finlay

Baroness Ilora Finlay is a Consultant in Palliative Medicine at Velindre Cancer Centre and Honorary Professor of Palliative Medicine, Cardiff University.

Meet Jaskiran Jutla

Jaskiran has a Bachelor of Arts in English and Film & TV Studies and has written for a variety of national publications, including Woman magazine, Bella, Total TV Guide and TV Choice.