Welcome to our new Directors
We’re excited to introduce new Directors
- Ellie Addison, a former Army nurse now working with the NHS Supply Chain
- Dr Philippa Brice, a bioscience and health policy specialist
We’re also welcoming Chelsia Lake, a University of York student, who takes on a new, Associate Director, role.
All three have a breadth of lived experience, and a passion for what Healthwatch can do that will give us a great injection of fresh thinking.
The appointments were officially endorsed at last night’s Healthwatch Board Meeting.
You’ll be able to say hello to our new recruits over the next few months as they’ll be coming along to our regular online groups and health and care forum meetings.
Ellie: diverse specialities and local knowledge
Ellie’s Army nursing career included postings in Iraq, Northern Ireland and Belize as well as in the NHS.
After leaving the service, she specialised as a scrub nurse in operating theatres in the NHS and private sector across London and Bedfordshire.
She went on to work as a clinical nurse advisor for the NHS Supply Chain and also for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Clinical Commissioning Group where she was involved in the education and training of care home staff – becoming Lead Nurse for Care Homes.
For the last year, Ellie has worked in the clinical team at NHS Supply Chain, which ensures the clinical quality and safety of products bought for the health service.
She lives in the Fens and has two children, six rescued battery hens and two dogs.
I'm excited to represent people's views says Philippa
Health policy specialist Dr Philippa Brice lives in Cambridge.
Originally trained as a scientist, specialising in the study of viruses, she moved to work in communications and health policy.
She is now External Affairs Director for a charitable health think-tank, responsible for strategy, stakeholder engagement and public affairs.
Philippa has a special interest in the use of new technologies in health services, and in personalised medicine.
She is an experienced patient charity trustee – working for Action on Pre-eclampsia and Headway Cambridgeshire – and a member of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations.
Her interest in patient representation began when her first child was born prematurely because she was seriously ill, followed two years later by her husband needing major brain surgery to remove a tumour.
Philippa wants patients across the region to enjoy equal access to the best care, wherever they live.
Volunteer Chelsia will help us listen to young people
Chelsia is in her final year of studies for her BA in Social Policy and has been a Healthwatch volunteer since last summer.
She’s excited to get started in her new role - helping us find out what matters to young people across our area and getting them involved in improving local services.
“Healthwatch is really aligned with my personal passions and interests,” she said.
“It’s so important to capture the views and experiences of young people and help get them heard to power and influence local services.”
She has been a St John Ambulance volunteer since she was 10, becoming a First Aider and Youth Leader.
She currently lives in South Cambridgeshire and is also volunteering in Huntingdonshire for the NHS Covid-19 Vaccination programme.
