I have worked as a journalist for more than 17 years in a variety of sectors, including business, corporate finance, health, social care, mental health, learning disabilities, trucks/haulage, social work and nursing.
I can write news, blogs, opinion columns and short- and long-form features for print and web.
Here are some examples of my previous work:
Nursing in Practice
[Feature] How general practice could lose thousands of healthcare assistants
Thousands of HCAs working in GP practices want to progress their careers to become practice nurses, but may leave the NHS entirely if their path is not made easier. Dan Parton reports
In September, official NHS figures confirmed what many healthcare professionals on the frontline already suspected – that there are currently record levels of vacant nursing posts.
Across England, there is a shortage of at least 40,000 registered nurses, with fears that this figure could further grow in the coming years. General practice in particular is struggling, with the number of practice nurses in post remaining static, at best, since December 2016. As of March 2018, there were 22,976 nurses in primary care (15,889 full-time equivalent), according to figures from NHS Digital, an increase of just over 200 from the year before.
Resolve Care: giving people the best chance
Since the Care Quality Commission (CQC) changed its inspection process, few learning disability care homes have achieved an outstanding rating. But both of Resolve Care’s homes have the distinction. Owners Anne Graham and David King talk to Dan Parton about how they did this.
It sounds so obvious when said, but like many things in life, it belies a complexity that is hard to achieve: “You have to want to care for people,” says Anne Graham. “There are other organisations in the sector where it’s about profit as opposed to wanting to give people the best chance in life.”
At Resolve, the emphasis is purely on giving the residents the best possible life. All of the residents have autism and/or a learning disability and a history of offending behaviour – in some cases, serious offences. All have been in hospital or prison and most have had limited opportunities and meaningful life experiences.