Meet our nursing team

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Meet our Clinical Nurse team

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Deanna Lane, Clinical Manager

Deanna has worked as a nurse for over 35 years, spending her early years training at Southmead Hospital in Bristol and learning her trade on the intensive care unit and specialising in tracheostomy and ventilator care. Once qualified, she worked on a surgical ward for vascular and bowel operations, gaining experience in post-surgical and stoma care. She then went on to become a midwife for seven years, returning to nursing and then moving on to working in a care home.

Deanna has worked in a variety of different care homes as the registered nursing manager, supporting people with spinal injuries, tracheostomies, stomas, PEG feeding tubes and those who required assistance with bowel and bladder management. She also has extensive experience in training others in nursing practices such as moving and handling, health and safety, safeguarding, first aid, infection control, fire training and governance. She was also the training lead for the Gloucestershire Care Home Support team, giving her a county-wide forum to cascade training initiatives.

Deanna’s qualifications include a masters in Management, professional courses such as Mental Capacity Act, Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards and National Examination Board in Health and Safety (NEBOSH). She is also registered with the Nursing and Midwifery Council.

As well has her extensive nursing experience, Deanna has won various awards during her time working in care homes, including Care Home Manager of the Year 2012 at the Great South West Care Awards. She has also featured in a video by the Social Care Institute of Excellence (SCIE) on dementia and end-of-life care.

See Deanna’s profile here.

 

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Carole Kerton-Church, Regional Clinical Lead for South East

Carole has lived and worked in the London and Essex area her entire life and has over 20 years’ experience caring for adults, beginning her career as a Healthcare Assistant. She has since worked her way up in both private and public health and care organisations, and is now the Regional Clinical Lead for her local area.

Carole is a Registered Nurse and joined the Nursing and Midwifery Council in 2007, acquiring her Nursing Diploma at at Anglia Ruskin University. Since then, she has worked in acute hospitals, as a Community Nurse and as  GP Nurse.

She has supported people with a variety of different conditions, including multiple sclerosis, cancer and motor neurone disease, and has a keen interest in palliative care and elderly care.

Carole says: ” I am passionate about proactive care and health education and I have been lucky enough not only to look after, but also work alongside so many different people – I’ve heard so many amazing and often inspiring stories. Working for Helping Hands enables me and my colleagues to support people in their own home – the place where most people want to stay for as long as they can. It’s so important and extremely rewarding.”

See Carole’s profile here.

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Kathryn Mahon, Regional Clinical Lead for Central

Kathryn is the Regional Clinical Lead for the Central region. She joined Helping Hands in May 2021 and is loving being part of a strong, cohesive and knowledgeable team.

“I am from a family of nurses and as a teenager my parents owned and ran a Residential Home for the Elderly in which I had my first job. The standards of care that they gave the residents provided me with a solid focus on how care should be delivered.
I am really proud to be part of a team of dedicated carers and indeed all our colleagues, whilst always remaining focussed that the wheel of success would not turn without everyone’s valuable contribution.
Initially Helping Hands approached me and encouraged me to apply for this role; I’m so very pleased they did as this is the role I have been looking for. My main objectives within this role are to be a valuable member of the Clinical Team and deliver sound training and support to carers and colleagues to continue the high standards of care. I love the variety of being able to work from home but also getting out and about around the region and I really am looking forward to meeting more of my colleagues and our customers.”

Kathryn started working towards her Diploma in Adult Nursing in 1992 and qualified in 1996. In 2005, she obtained her BSc (Hons) in Specialist Community Public Health and then worked as a Health Visitor until 2015. She also has diploma modules in teaching, asthma management and health promotion.

Whilst at college in 1988, Kathryn began working part-time in a Nursing home; then had a variety of care roles until she qualified as a Nurse in 1996, including as a live-in carer. As well as being a Health Visitor, she has worked for NHS Direct as a Quality and Audit Nurse, the ambulance service, GP practices, GP out of hours as a Triage Nurse and held deputy manager posts in care homes. Kathryn firmly believe there is always scope to learn and enhance skills and loves that she is able to do this on a daily basis.

See Kathryn’s profile here.

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Rebecca Bennett, Regional Clinical Lead for the North

“I have worked and studied within care for the past few years but was involved with personal care for relatives for many years prior to this. I chose to work in the care industry following my Nanna’s prolonged stay in hospital and seeing the excellent care that she was provided for many months following a planned heart operation.

The care that she received opened my eyes to what working within the healthcare system could be like and I discovered that this was something that I was very passionate about.
I always endeavour to make patient safety my top priority and aim to ensure that both my customer and their loved ones are happy and confident in the care that is being provided to them. Through observing the care given to my Nanna I realised how much trust is put into those within the healthcare profession, to keep people’s loved ones safe when their family/friends are unable to, and think it is a privilege to work within this industry.”

After completing her A- levels Rebecca went to the University of Manchester where she studied and gained a Psychology degree. Following this, she applied to both a teaching course and nursing at Manchester University but ultimately decided her passion was in nursing.

After completing her adult nursing degree, she started her career at Salford Royal hospital, working on an Acute Neurology unit, where she gained an in-depth understanding of many neurological conditions such as epilepsy, MND and myasthenia gravis. Realising that she missed having regular patients that she could get to know on a more in-depth level, Rebecca began working at Millview Care home, where she learnt many skills and gained an in-depth knowledge of a wide range of conditions such as stroke, brain tumour care, peg care, incontinence care, end of life care and dementia care. During the pandemic she began working as acting unit manager and learnt the key skills necessary to teach and lead a team, involved with CQC inspections, CHC reviews and gaining a student mentorship qualification (MSLAP). During this role she re-discovered her passion for teaching and trained up nursing assistants and new carers to ensure that they were competent and safe.

Qualifications and Professional Development:
Psychology degree
Adult nursing degree
Multi-professional Support of Learning and Assessment in Practice – MSLAP
Member of the RCN
6 steps of end-of-life care (training by Bolton hospice)

See Rebecca’s profile here

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Kerry Whittingham, Regional Clinical Lead for East

Hi there! I’m Kerry and I am the Regional Clinical Lead Nurse for the East of England. I joined Helping Hands in June 2021, absolutely love my job and plan to stay for as long as the company wants me! The role itself involves supporting our Live-in and Visiting services with training the carers and producing our customers’ individual person-centred Support Plans. It can sometimes involve a lot of driving, but I absolutely love driving too!

I began my career in care in 2010 as a Support Worker for adults with learning disabilities and mental health conditions. In this role I really found my passion for care and knew I wanted to take it further. I completed NVQ’s in Health and Social Care, Leadership and Equality and Diversity.

I then applied for a place at Nottingham University to study Adult Nursing and was ecstatic when I was accepted. Nottingham University is one of the most prestigious Universities in the world and studying with them was one of the best experiences I’ve had. I spent some of my time during the course supporting the Student Council and really made the most out of my time there; I was very fortunate to have such a broad variety of placements in most health care specialities. I completed my course and began Nursing on an Acute Surgical Ward, caring for some of the most acutely unwell patients’ who had all different types of complex surgery including Bariatric Gastric Band Surgery. It was here where I worked with the most articulate Senior Nurses who took compliance and documentation standards very seriously and of course, I followed suit and really developed my confidence in my ability to work to the highest of standards. I then expanded my wings and worked as a Flexible Nurse in every area of the Trust, getting a feel for all different specialities and expanding my confidence, knowledge, and skills.

See Kerry’s profile here.

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Carmen Dussoye, Regional Clinical Lead for the North

“I’m Carmen, the Regional Clinical Lead for the North. I have worked within care and nursing in various roles for 24 years. To be part of a person’s care and health journey is a privilege and I am passionate about supporting people to remain in their home environment along with promoting independence and choice. I joined Helping Hands in July 2023 and am enjoying being part of a fantastic supportive team, with a wealth of knowledge and experience.

My Mum was a Nurse and from an early age I knew I wanted to be in a caring role.  Both my Grandparents had long term, complex conditions and needed a lot of care at home and I watched my Mum carry this out when professional care at home was unheard of, and residential nursing care would have been the only option.  Mum cared for them at home for 10 years and this inspired me to want to have a career in the health service.

In 1999, I started working in a health centre, and from there held various roles as a health care assistant in residential care homes, home care and at a local hospital. My role working within Outpatients for four years, gave me fantastic skills and experience over a range of specialities and I worked with the most amazing Consultants and staff.  I was then given the opportunity to work on the Wards within the hospital and gained valuable experience.   In 2014 I commenced my Nursing Degree at York University and joined the Nursing and Midwifery Council Register in 2017.  After qualifying I went straight into Practice Nursing, gaining many skills and developed knowledge in health promotion and a passion for complex wound management. Since 2020 I have worked as a Clinical Lead in Social Care which has involved developing, implementing, and delivering clinical services, and mentoring students on the Nurse Associate Programme, along with collaboration with local universities.

My areas of nursing interest are complex wound management, diabetes, management of long-term conditions and end of life care. I have cared for people with a range of conditions and enjoy learning and keeping up to date with the latest evidence-based practice.

My proudest moment to date was saving the life of my neighbour who had gone into respiratory arrest. I had to perform CPR and keep a relative calm while speaking to the emergency services all at the same time!  I was then put forward for a Community Pride Award and had to go to an award ceremony and was on the television!”

See Carmen’s profile here.

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Lucy Childs, Regional Clinical Lead for the South West

“Hi, I’m Lucy, Regional Clinical Lead for the South West. I worked for Helping Hands as a carer in Plymouth while I completed my adult nursing degree, and during that time I developed my passion for delivering person-centred care for people in their own homes.
I then left Helping Hands when I qualified as a nurse but continued to work in the community with the acute care at home team. This team provided a variety of services to keep people at home and avoid hospital admissions. I then moved into the private sector, working on a busy surgical ward but during this time I realised I missed being out in the community looking after people at home.
I then moved to a home care company where I found my passion in education; I progressed from a home care nurse to a senior home care nurse, then to a practice development nurse.
I have now returned to Helping Hands and feel like I have never been away. My passion is for keeping customers at home and ensuring our carers have all the knowledge they require to do so.”

See Lucy’s profile here.