Experience as a Healthcare Consumer

Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma patient

March 2001 - December 2002

Diagnosed in an emergency department (A&E). Treatment involved biopsies, CT scans, PET-CT scan, chemotherapy, high-dose chemotherapy and stem-cell recovery (using my own, previously-harvested cells), and removal of my spleen by keyhole surgery. Currently living with long-term, post-chemotherapy fatigue and chemo brain.

Patient-Public Involvement

Lay Co-Investigator, Patient Experience and Patient Safety, Imperial College, London

August 2017 to date

Co-applicant on a Health Foundation Innovating for Improvement grant, steering group lay representative and co-investigator. Project title: Listen, Learn & Improve: Using language analysis to interpret and act on written patient experience feedback for near real-time patient benefit. Ongoing input at steering group level for the multi-site, follow-up Scale, Spread and Embed project.

Public contributor, Academy of Primary Care, Hull-York Medical School

January 2016 to April 2019

Reviewing study documentation from a patient perspective prior to grant and/or ethics submission. Providing patient representation on a steering committee for the EMPRESS study, a multi-centre study looking at health inequalities.

Patient and public involvement coach, mentor and Your Involvement Network member, Cancer Research UK

July 2014 to date

Helping to develop an increased number of meaningful opportunities for staff and members of the public to come together to share their different, but complimentary, experiences and insights about the ongoing fight against cancer. Communicating effectively with diverse stake-holders, and inspiring and encouraging them to engage with the philosophy of inclusive and meaningful patient and public involvement in research. Also co-interviewing and mentoring volunteers who give talks on behalf of CRUK, and providing tailored advice and training to research staff.

Patient and public involvement intern, Leeds Institute of Health Sciences, Leeds University

Eight days between October 2016 and March 2017

Assisting with providing information about PPI to researchers submitting grants to the NIHR. Drafting and delivering PPI promotional and training talks to the public.

Panel member, Trans-Humber Consumer Research Panel

September 2007 - February 2017: Chair 2009-2011, and co-chair (with a lay co-chair) 2013-2015.

Using professional knowledge of the research cycle to enable members of the public to engage, in a meaningful and mutually-beneficial way, with researchers who are active over a range of disease areas including cancer, cardiac, surgery and emergency medicine. Day-to-day management of the panel whilst chair/co-chair, taking minutes, liaising with researchers and other PPI organisations and networks in the Yorkshire and Humber region. Giving awareness raising and professional development talks to local research staff and students. Representing the committee on network board meetings and steering groups. Leading on the recruitment and induction of new lay members. Facilitating the capture of evidence of the group's impact, and preparing the results for publication.

Patient-Public Involvement Articles

Running EPAP Taster Sessions in the UK

Dave Manton and Kate Hill

European Patient Ambassador Programme Newsletter 04, Winter 2017.

Click here to view the article.

Patient and Public Involvement in a Research Project

David Manton, Barbara Mendham, Kevin Alty, Angela Green and Jenny Marsden

IPEM SCOPE Magazine, Volume 26, Issue 2, pp 36-37, June 2017.

Click here to open a PDF of the article.

Clinical Research and Academic Activities

Student support assistant (non-medical helper), working at the University of Hull

November 2015 to present

Taking notes in lectures and seminars on behalf of students who have a range of specific learning difficulties and other healthcare conditions. Providing reading and/or scribing support for students in exams.

Individual affiliation agreement, Ingham Institute for Applied Medical Research, Liverpool, New South Wales, Australia.

May 2017 to March 2019

Assisting with data and statistical analyses for medical imaging and radiotherapy projects. Also assisting with the dissemination of results, e.g. helping draft papers and giving talks at UK-based workshops.

Trainee healthcare scientist (radiation oncology physics), Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust

November 2011 - March 2015

Managed personal training schedule and workload involving a mixture of academic study and on-the-job training. Optimized patient treatment plans and assessed the reliability of treatment equipment, under supervision. Learned how to solve complex problems whilst treating cancer patients with compassion, sensitivity and professional respect. Complied fully with information governance training, infection control training, and safeguarding vulnerable adults and children training. Responsible for carrying out a small, in-house, imaging-based research project, and presenting its results to a professional audience.

Post-doctoral research assistant (MRI physics), the University of Hull

August 1996 - October 2011

Responsible for managing small research projects in the application of quantitative magnetic resonance techniques to the study of human tumours in vivo (mainly brain, breast and prostate). Assisting with other projects, including multi-centre clinical trials, within a small, multidisciplinary department (radiologists, physicists, MD students, biochemists). Liaising with NHS clinical collaborators (pathologists, surgeons and radiologists). Leading grant applications and ethics committee applications (including patient and public involvement aspects) for own projects and assisting with those of colleagues. Engaged with continuing professional development training including embracing diversity and disability awareness.

For a list of published papers with abstracts, please click here (search powered by PubMed.gov)