Hayley Harrison appointed onto national physiotherapy committee

It’s always a proud moment for the trust when a colleague gets elected onto a national health body or committee.

Our neonatal physiotherapist Hayley Harrison is the latest to gain this type of recognition, as she’s been selected for a place on the Association of Paediatric Chartered Physiotherapists’ Neonatal Committee.

It’s one of a series of national committees for people working in specialist areas, who help to write guidelines and assist with proof reading and commenting on national documents.

Hayley has been a physiotherapist for 10 years and began her career at Musgrove Park Hospital in adult care, followed by a spell in Bristol where she specialised in paediatrics, before returning to Somerset.

Over the last five years, Hayley has expanded her skillset into the care of neonates, and has developed her role in this area of paediatrics.

Part of Hayley’s week involves working on our neonatal unit, and the other half on our children’s unit, caring for children between 0 and 18 with any kind of medical condition. She also runs neonatal follow-up clinics and specialist groups.

She explains how the opportunity came about: “I applied for a place on the neonatal committee, which involved colleagues on the existing committee reviewing my application, before they shortlisted me,” says Hayley. “I then found out five months later that I’d been selected, which was a real honour for me!

“The main reason I applied was to broaden my awareness of the national policies and documents being created for neonatal services.

“Alongside my clinical role, I wanted to expand my learning and the education side as well. I’ve done a fair bit of proof reading for NHS England in the past too, and it was something I really wanted to continue.

“The feedback I had from the panel was mostly positive and I feel very privileged to get a place on the committee.

“At the moment the committee is working on quality improvement documents, and I’m able to focus on patient follow-ups if I can, as well as what we can do as a profession to improve neonatal care, not just the physiotherapy aspect.

“We had a working weekend in March and the level of expertise in the group is impressive, so to be able to work alongside them is fantastic – I can’t wait to see where this role takes me!”