Our Guest Speakers

Jonathan Beebee

Jonathan Beebee

Jonathan is a Registered Nurse in Learning Disabilities. He is the Royal College of Nursing’s Professional Lead in Learning Disabilities and Chief Enablement Officer/Nurse Consultant for PBS4, a social care provider that supports people who display challenging behaviours, including offending behaviours.

Jonathan has previously worked in a secure forensic CAMHS hospital, a Youth Offending Team, and run adapted sex offender treatment programmes as part of a community learning disability service. He has undertaken work for the Department of Health mapping the needs of offenders with learning disabilities and has been Learning Disability Policy Manager for the Care Quality Commission to improve regulation of the support people with learning disabilities receive. 

Saranna Burgess

Saranna Burgess

Saranna trained to be a nurse as a mature student. Before that, she worked as an unregistered worker in learning disabilities and mental health care settings. She is now a Registered Nurse with an MSc in Mental Health and Law.

Saranna has worked in acute physical healthcare, within a tertiary Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, and in drug and alcohol services within community mental health care services for most of her career. Ten years ago, she moved from patient-facing nursing into the safeguarding world and from there to patient safety and quality.

Jo Collins

Jo Collins

Jo is currently the Deputy Head of Patient and Carer Experience at AWP and has worked in complaints, pals, patient safety and patient experience in various combinations for 20 years. Prior to this, she managed 2 GP practices in Wiltshire. She has been with Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership since 2011.

Jo is a champion of patient and family engagement and currently looks after the PALS and Complaints Service, Family Liaison Service and the Patient and Carer Experience Team.

Dr Sarah Constantine

Sarah Constantine

Sarah Constantine has been with Avon and Wilshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust since 2019. She became a Consultant Psychiatrist in 2001 specialising in older adults, having also been accredited in general adult psychiatry. She has achieved an MSc in Healthcare Leadership and the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson NHS Leadership Academy qualification. Sarah is also trained in lean quality improvement (QI) methodology.

Before her move to AWP, Sarah worked as a Clinical Director and Deputy Medical Director for a large mental health/community physical health trust. She is an expert in mental capacity assessments, the application of the Mental Capacity Act, and is a special visitor with the Court of Protection. Sarah is a Caldicott Guardian and is also responsible for Professional Management of Medics and Responsible Officer, Medical Education, Research and Development and Mental Health Legislation.

Nikki Flux Edmonds

“I am a proud mum to a beautiful angel girl being a mum is probably my proudest achievement, but I have other achievements that other people appreciate. I am CEO and general chief cook and bottle washer of my local children’s charity named after my little girl, “Kezi’s Kindness”.

I am an enthusiastic volunteer for Making Families count and speak for them and have received a huge boost in confidence by working with them which led me to be a volunteer for the charity Victim Support as a murder and manslaughter peer support member. Prior to the murder of my daughter, I worked in customer service and finance. I love working with people and making a difference.”

Rich Evans

Rich Evans, Mental Health Nurse and Senior Lecturer

Rich Evans has spent a lot of time working with families bereaved by suicide in his previous role with Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust. This involved him visiting the family at home after a death by suicide to discuss what had happened, providing emotional support, and doing his utmost to answer any questions they had. He spent 5 years undertaking this work and met with many families during that time.

Currently, he is teaching mental health nursing students as part of their undergraduate degree to becoming a registered nurse. Suicide prevention and postvention support are part of this course. In addition, he is responsible for a Master’s level Postgraduate Module for healthcare professionals around supporting people at risk of suicide. One of the module teaching sessions focuses on postvention support.

Donna L Forsyth MCSP, CMIOSH

Donna Forsyth

Having recently retired from being Head of Investigation at NHS England, Donna Forsyth is now Director, Education Architect, Trainer and Coach for the not-for-profit organisation Patient Safety Science. Donna was the architect and author of the original Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PSIRF) and she initiated and led the Patient Safety Investigation Branch pilot ahead of assisting the creation of HSIB in 2016.

She co-authored the CIEHF publication “Learning from Adverse Events” in 2020. She is a chartered musculoskeletal and sports physiotherapist as well as a chartered safety practitioner who has influenced and supported the transformative incident investigation strategy, policy and guidance in health and social care. Since 2007 Donna has been an advisor on event analysis for the World Health Organisation. In 2010 she completed air accident investigation training at Cranfield University.

Jeremy Harris

Jeremy (Jez) Harris is the father of Bethany, whose story made national headlines after she was kept locked in seclusion for three years. An avid campaigner, he also now co-chairs NHSE’s Parent Council and carries out various roles as an Expert by Experience including CQC reviews and Care Treatment reviews.

Karen Lascelles

Karen Lascelles has been a mental health nurse for 30 years, always with an interest in self-harm and suicide and has specialised in this area for the last 15 years. As a nurse consultant, she is involved in supporting colleagues with complex cases, working clinically with people experiencing suicidal crises and their carers, supporting families and carers who are bereaved by suicide and supporting staff after the death of a patient by suicide.

She is also involved in various research and quality improvement endeavours to increase knowledge and improve suicide prevention practice. This includes her professional doctorate, in which she investigates the experiences and support needs of adults who care for an adult family member or friend they consider to be at risk of suicide.

In addition, Karen is involved in education and training around suicide risk assessment and management.

Sue Massingham

Sue Massingham

Following the sudden death of her daughter in 2020, Sue now regularly supports Oxford Health Trust with her insight around her experiences to champion change.

She was involved in the serious incident process as well as having to navigate the ordeals of an inquest. Sue co-chairs the Suicide Prevention Strategy Steering Group for the Trust, alongside Dr Karl Marlowe, Chief Medical Officer.

Neil Meade

Detective Inspector Neil Meade has been with Avon and Somerset Police for 27 years. He has been a detective for more than 20 years and involved in homicide investigations for the last 10 years as part of the Avon and Somerset, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire major crime collaboration. He has been involved in the investigation of over 40 murders. He has been crime family liaison coordinator for 4 years overseeing the police’s response to family liaison following a homicide. As part of his family liaison role, he is responsible for ensuring the police FLOs are suitably trained, current, and fit to offer families the best service following the death of a loved one.

Dr Zoe Picton Howell

Zoe is mum to Adam Bojelian, a multi-award-winning young poet and healthcare advocate who lived with cerebral palsy, acquired at birth, and died from sepsis aged 15 in 2015.

She is also a solicitor, healthcare academic, medical education tutor at Edinburgh University’s medical school and director of the Adam Bojelian Foundation CIC, a not-for-profit organisation which provides education and training in healthcare law and ethics to NHS and wider organisations and staff. It also runs a weekly free legal advice clinic as part of the Law Works Network.

Zoe has served on numerous research and guidance drafting committees, regionally and nationally, including Royal College, NICE and UK government guidance. Zoe is a member of both the Law Society’s (the professional body for solicitors) Mental Health and Disability Policy Advisory Committee and its Human Rights Policy Advisory Committee.

Zoe was a chapter author for Disability Matters and has published and presented nationally and internationally on child health law, particularly best interest decision-making and children’s rights. Her doctorate from Edinburgh University Law School, explored with 40 UK paediatricians their understanding of the relevant law and ethics when making end-of-life decisions for disabled children.

Louise Pye

Head of Family Engagement, Maternity & Newborn Safety Investigations (MNSI)

Before starting work within patient safety in 2018, Lou served as an officer in the police force for 30 years, most of which was as a detective. During this time, she specialised in the field of family liaison (FLO) working with families following a murder, manslaughter, road death or mass fatality incident and spent a period as a National FLO Advisor. Lou’s role was responsible for implementing, training, advising, and supporting this area of work locally, regionally and nationally and she was recognised for her work in the Queen’s New Year Honours (2017).

Lou’s work includes providing strategic leadership to the area of engagement and ensuring meaningful family engagement is central to all maternity investigations by designing systems, resources and processes to support investigators with their work.

Lou also has a particular interest in education and is currently providing training internally and to the wider NHS within the course ‘Engaging and involving patients, families and staff following a patient safety incident’ after having been involved in the writing of the supporting guidance by the same name for the NHS England Patient Safety Incident Response framework.

Lou holds a degree in sociology.

Derek Richford

Derek Richford

Derek Richford lives in Kent. He has four children and four grandchildren; Harry would have made five. In November 2017, Harry died at QEQM hospital in Margate, aged seven days.

Derek spent over four years investigating Harry’s death and what occurred. Along the way, he managed to get a 3-week Article 2 Inquest that showed seven gross failings amounting to neglect. The Trust was found guilty in the first-ever CQC criminal prosecution for unsafe care and treatment and fined over £700k. Harry’s case led to the investigation into East Kent Hospitals’ maternity service by Bill Kirkup, resulting in the “Reading the Signals” report.

Joanne Simm

Joanne Simm

Joanne Simm is a Registered Nurse with a background specialising in respiratory nursing. She is a Matron within a Corporate Assurance Team, combining her clinical expertise and drive for improvement across the Trust.

During the Covid pandemic, Joanne’s father was admitted to an NHS hospital where, during his inpatient stay, he suffered a traumatic bleed to his brain. Failings in his care delivery caused a delay in hospital staff recognising the signs of deterioration, which resulted in a delay in her father’s diagnostics and treatment. Joanne’s loving father sadly died in September 2022 despite her raising repeated concerns with the hospital.

Joanne had an unpleasant and exhausting experience with the complaints process, and through her determination to ensure lessons are learned, she now uses her experience to deliver training sessions, using her story as a real example to engage the audience in making positive changes to their practice.

Ashley Windebank-Brooks

Ashley Windebank-Brooks is Head of Patient Safety for North Bristol NHS Trust, a centre of excellence in several fields of health care in the Southwest and one of the largest hospital trusts in the UK.

Ashley joined North Bristol in May 2023 having worked for the NHS for nearly 10 years in a variety of roles including contracting, commissioning, mental health and acute care. His past roles all had a focus on problem solving, learning and understanding why things happen, and how we support people to improve. Giving a voice to patients and their families is a core value for Ashley, particularly at difficult times such as following a patient safety incident.

Away from work, he is married to Steve, a dog dad to two Shih Tzu, Melon and Morgan, and spends his free time growing vegetables and baking. He loves whiling away in an art gallery or museum.