A big welcome to our new Associate Director of Therapies for Community, and Chief AHP, Christine Beck, who joined us last month.
Christine began her career as an Occupational Therapist and has worked in various roles at Leeds Teaching Hospitals, Mid Yorkshire Hospitals, and Leeds Integrated Care Board. Outside of work, Christine has two daughters and enjoys volunteering every year at Leeds Festival.
She said: "Every August I head off to Leeds to volunteer with Festival Angels, an organisation aligned to Street Angels. The group provides 24/7 cover over the weekend, helping young adults who may need a bit of support. I have found myself putting up tents (it's amazing how many young adults arrive never having ever put up a tent) and making lots of drinks and pot noodles. One of the best jobs is driving the staff mini bus as you get to go behind the stages where all the artists are.
"What I'm probably most proud of in my career is when I was lucky enough to have an opportunity to go to Madagascar. The organisation I worked in had developed strong links with the Madagascar Department of Health through an Overseas Partnership and Training Initiative agreement. This involved an annual visit where health professionals provided training to the clinical teams in this developing county. When I went in 2011 I was the first Occupational Therapist to join the group. There was no established training course for Occupational Therapy in Madagascar and my sessions were delivered to medics and physiotherapists.
"Over the two weeks I took it on myself to demonstrate to everyone about the value OT could bring to supporting people's lives. This included the Madagascar Minister of Health, Dr Johanita Ndahimananjara. With support we continued to work in partnership to develop the first school of Occupational Therapy a year later, which continues to grow from strength to strength and has now expanded into a Master's programme.
"I am excited to be joining CHFT and to support the development of AHP services for our patients across both the acute trust and the community. I have already been warmly welcomed by so many people I have met. When I have asked colleagues what is working well in their area, the response has consistently been 'the team and the people I work with.' To someone new in the trust, it truly feels that One Culture of Care is something deeply meaningful."
