My experience

I have over ten years of experience designing, managing and delivering research and evaluation projects for charities and the public sector.

I take a flexible approach working with clients to understand their goals and then designing a project to suit. I am experienced in delivering a wide range of projects including qualitative and quantitative primary research, mixed-method evaluations, impact and outcome measurement, literature/evidence reviews and data analysis.

I am an accomplished project manager with a track record of delivering projects on time, within budget and to specification.

I produce high quality reports and papers that are tailored to their intended audience, many of which have been published. I am also experienced in producing briefings, toolkits and frameworks, and writing accessible formats such as Easy Read.

Some recent examples of my work include:

Supporting Each Other Equals Power!

I led the evaluation of Supporting Each Other Equals Power!, a four-year co-production partnership between the Social Care Institute for Excellence and two organisations led by people with learning difficulties: People First Self Advocacy and Breaking Out of the Bubble. The project was led and delivered by people with learning difficulties and provided a combination of advocacy, social activities and engagement in Lambeth, South London.
When the COVID-19 pandemic took hold in March 2020 the project had to adapt rapidly to provide critical support to vulnerable people with learning difficulties/disabilities. The evaluation was a co-production, with members of staff with learning difficulties/disabilities taking an active role in gathering evidence. I worked with the delivery team to adapt the evaluation methods and ensure that the support provided by the project during COVID-19 was accurately recorded and reflected in the evaluation.

Rapid Recruitment Introduction to Social Care

For WeCare Wales and Social Care Wales I delivered the evaluation of a pilot rapid recruitment programme to bring people into work in social care and mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on staff levels in social care. Learning from the pilot informed the development of WeCare Wales Introduction to Social Care training programme which continues to attract people to work in social care.

The experiences of adults with learning disabilities in Hertfordshire during COVID-19

For Hertfordshire County Council I designed and delivered primary research into the impact of Covid19 on people with learning disabilities living in Hertfordshire. I conducted interviews and focus groups to understand how the pandemic had affected people with learning disabilities and their families, what had helped them during the pandemic and what support they wanted in the future. The findings from the research were shared widely within Hertfordshire and are being used to inform development of Hertfordshire's Transforming Care model for supporting people with learning disabilities.

Embedding co-production into adult social care in Oxfordshire

I led the evaluation of Oxfordshire County Council’s programme to embed co-production into adult social care in Oxfordshire. The evaluation itself was co-produced, I worked with and supported peer researchers with lived experience and together we undertook the field work and analysis for the evaluation.
At the outset of the programme we worked with those co-delivering the programme to develop and articulate a set of aims and outcomes for the programme, which helped to keep the programme focused. The evaluation then assessed progress against these aims, feeding learning back in to aid programme development.

Joint Induction Training Pilot for Health and Social Care Workers

I evaluated the Joint Induction Training Pilot for Health and Social Care Workers in West Wales, for Social Care Wales. The key innovation of the pilot was the delivery of the same high-standard induction training to both health and social care workers. The evaluation took a multi-disciplinary approach using surveys and interviews with training participants, key members of the delivery team and senior staff from health and social care bodies in West Wales. The evaluation found that the training was valued by trainees and managers / employers, and found evidence of better outcomes for people accessing health and/or social care. Because staff were well trained and social care staff were able to undertake basic health observations they were more likely to identify potential health issues early. This also made care more efficient by reducing the reliance on GPs or NHS nurses for certain health observations. The evaluation helped to demonstrate the effectiveness of the programme which is now expanding, and is seen as a key model for improving joined up working across health and social care in Wales.

IMPACTAgewell

For the Social Care Institute for Excellence and Dunhill Medical Trust I evaluated the IMPACTAgewell pilot, an enhanced social prescribing programme for older people in Northern Ireland. As well as evaluating the impact of the programme, I collated learning to inform programme growth and spread. The evaluation demonstrated the success of the pilot which helped the programme secure further funding from the Dunhill Medical Trust and the Northern Ireland Health and Social Care Board.
IMPACTAgewell continues to run successfully in Northern Ireland.