Par-Con 2021 – Making the most of your relationship with your care team [Video]

In this session, we’ll be chatting about the breadth of the term “care team” and sharing insight on how people can best make contact with the right healthcare professionals. We’ll be joined by specialist speech and language therapist, Caroline Bartliff, who will share her experiences and advice. This will be followed by a panel discussion with volunteers Sue and John Whipps and our own Katherine French from the UK Parkinson’s Excellence Network as we discuss what relationships with care teams look like and find out more about the services available to those affected by Parkinson’s.

CAROLINE BARTLIFF
Specialist Speech and Language Therapist, Derbyshire Community Health Services
Caroline has been a practicing Speech and Language Therapist for 20 years, specialising in Parkinson’s and related conditions since 2009. She is part of the Derby Parkinson’s multidisciplinary team, with a passion for research and creating a service that is person-centred, effective and based on the latest evidence base.

She has been a member of the Parkinson’s East Midlands Research Committee (PEMRIG) for the past 6 years. Her membership on the committee facilitates getting research into practice and sharing this knowledge with all key stakeholders.

She is the lead therapist on the Parkinson’s National Audit; has designed a local clinical guideline for Speech Therapy (S&LT) and is working towards the creation of a National UK S&LT guideline. Newly qualified Induction training is a priority for services, so Caroline is supporting Parkinson’s UK in the roll out of the Therapy Induction Programme. She has a drive to inspire the emerging workforce and has been delivering annual National training on Parkinson’s and Atypical Parkinson’s for the past 10 years.

SUE WHIPPS
Parkinson’s UK Volunteer and Care Partner

I am retired and living in Cornwall with my partner who has had PD for 14 years. I am very involved with research, being a Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) representative on Trials Management Groups and in designing two new digital NHS services.

I am a member of the study design and the PPIE subgroups for ACT-PD.

JOHN WHIPPS
Person with Parkinson’s and PPI enthusiast

I retired from Warwick University due to Parkinson’s at 54. After moving to Cornwall, I undertook various roles in the local Parkinson’s UK group. I then extended my interests in Parkinson’s research, including attending World Parkinson’s Congresses, through Membership of Parkinson’s UK RSN, acting as a Volunteer research speaker and as a lay reviewer of research papers and grant applications. I actively promote the role of Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) in all stages of the research process. I was a patient and lay co-applicant in several projects. Many of these activities are joint with my wife, Sue.

KATHERINE FRENCH
Service Improvement Programme Manager, UK Parkinson’s Excellence Network, Parkinson’s UK
@katfrench76

I have worked for Parkinson’s UK for the last 15 years. My role is the Service Improvement Programme Manager within our Excellence Network team. I also manage our Nurse Development Programme to support the development of new nurse posts and work closely with all our Parkinsons Nurses to ensure that they are equipped with the tools and resources to be able to deliver high quality care to people with Parkinsons. I also work closely with commissioners and service planners to ensure that they are developing and commisong the right level of service and ensuring that they are future proofing their services and thinking about succession planning.