Nursing and AHP

Amanda Walthew

Nursing & Allied Health Professional Lead

Mandie is currently the lead cardiothoracic surgical advanced practitioner at Liverpool heart and chest hospital with twenty eight years of cardiothoracic experience; from ward sister, critical care sister, nurse practitioner in clinics and now twelve years as an advanced clinical practitioner. Her main background is within thoracic surgery; managing ward and critical care patients, autonomous ACP led chest drain clinics, lung cancer follow up clinics and ward attenders for early review post discharge. She has a fantastic team of advanced clinical practitioners who manage both cardiac and thoracic patients across the Trust ensuring a fully competent, highly skilled, supported and importantly valued team. She has been an active member of SCTS and have been collaborating with NAHP's nationally for over ten years. In 2016 she became thoracic subcommittee NAHP lead and was involved in website development and provided expert support nationally. Mandie has also written for the Oxford handbook of nursing, Nice guidelines and the Nursing Times. She is involved regionally with NHS England in collaboration with the advanced practice network. She is a motivated leader, enthusiastic and loves to educate, support and guide others to ensure patients receive the best care!

NAHP Subcomitte Lead for Critical Care

Matt Petty

Matt has worked on cardiothoracic ICU for over twenty years and been the lead nurse for Critical Care at Royal Papworth Hospital since 2020.He is interested in anything and everything critical care – Cardiac Surgery, ERAS, mechanical devices, ECMO, transplantation, ventilation, renal failure, post ICU follow up, whether this is clinical skills, teaching, or research. He believes that advanced skills can only be developed on strong foundations of good care and clinical knowledge. I also have a passion for those conditions not normally associated with Cardiothoracic ICU – spinal cord injuries, neuro protection, septic shock.

Anna Alves

Cardiac Lead

Ana is a qualified Nurse with over 10 years of diverse experience in surgical, medical, and critical care settings. She began her advanced practice training in 2018 at Guy's and St Thomas' Hospital, specialising in cardiac surgery. Since then, she has progressed to become a fully qualified Advanced Clinical Practitioner and currently serves as the Lead ACP for Cardiac Surgery. With a robust background and a deep commitment to advancing nursing standards, Ana has been instrumental in shaping advanced clinical practice within her speciality. She is a passionate advocate for the role of Nurses and Allied Healthcare Professionals (NAHPs), leveraging her strong leadership skills to build a highly skilled team in the adult cardiac surgery department. Her innovative efforts have significantly enhanced the integration and effectiveness of NAHPs, driving improvements in both patient care and professional standards.

Kathryn Hewitt

Education Lead

Kathryn has worked in Cardiothoracic surgery for ten years in three different centres; John Radcliff Hospital, Oxford, New Cross Hospital, Wolverhampton and most recently at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham. She successfully completed her MSc in Advanced Clinical Practice in 2020 specialising in Adult Cardiac Surgery and day-to-day cares for patients pre and post complex cardiac surgeries including; complex aortic surgery, adult congenital surgery, carcinoid heart surgery, heart and lung transplantation as well as conventional cardiac surgery.

Vision: Over the next three years I aim to work collaboratively with the wider NAHP sub-committee and the SCTS Adult Cardiac Surgery Committee to provide quality teaching sessions for all AHPs, utilising the skills, knowledge and expertise present in our centres nation-wide. I endeavour to work with the senior NAHP team to look at providing a standard of practice and competency framework for NAHPs with a view to standardising care offered to patients.

Winnie (Xiaohui) Liu

SCTS NAHP thoracic surgery subcommittee lead

She is an Advanced Nurse Practitioner working in the Thoracic department of University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust. She has been a lead for 8 years in her department, and she gained her MSc Advanced practice degree in 2020. She has taken over this job to transform the thoracic surgical practice and support thoracic NAHPs.

Her few objectives for next three years are:

To improve the thoracic activities within the SCTS NAHP committee and disseminate best practices nationally.
Encourage teamwork and promote health and wellbeing among thoracic NAHPs.
Teaching and promote education.
Reducing waste is vital within the NHS and she has planned to act on reducing the waste campaign with national colleagues by developing strategies.

Lisa Carson-Price

NAHP subcommittee lead: Perfusion lead 2

Having qualified as Clinical Perfusion Scientist in 2005 I have worked in numerous NHS Trusts in the UK, in both substantive and locum positions. Since 2007 I have worked at Glenfield, Leicester; gaining experience in both adult and congenital cardiothoracic surgery. Additionally, we provide an adult and Paediatric ECMO (Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) service. Inclusive of a transport ECMO service for both patient populations.

My vision:

1) Change perceptions that SCTS is just for surgeons: that it is a forum for all disciplines that work in cardiothoracic area

2) Play an active role in work force change: maintain minimum standards in a holistic manner through shared knowledge & bench marking

3) Improve communication & relations between centers: Promote positivity of communication between centers especially between nurses and AHP’s.

Jeni May Palima

Communication Lead

Jeni May Palima is a Cardiothoracic Surgical Care Practitioner at New Cross Heart and Lung Centre, Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust. She qualified as an SCP in 2017 and is also currently completing her MSc in Surgical Care Practice in order to progress in her career. She has a nursing background in Cardiothoracic Surgery, Cardiology and Critical Care. Her surgical skill set includes radial artery harvesting, open and endoscopic vein harvesting as well as first and second assisting. She is currently working on expanding the role of SCPs in her department by exploring the follow-up care of patients who have undergone concomitant or standalone surgical AF ablation.

Rosalie Magboo

Meetings Lead 2025

Rosalie Magboo is a Senior Sister in Cardiac Critical Care Unit at St Bartholomew’s Hospital. Rosalie is also one of the Barts Charity Clinical Doctoral Research Fellow at Queen Mary University of London. She has real passion for research even prior to her nursing career. Her research interest focuses on aortovascular surgery, atrial fibrillation after cardiac surgery and surgical site infection. As the SCTS NAHP research lead, her vision is to encourage, promote and assist in the development of NAHP clinical academic career and research opportunities in cardiothoracic surgery in the UK.

Zoe Barratt-Brown

NAHP Physiotherapy Lead

Zoe Barrett-Brown is the Team Leader Physiotherapist for Thoracic Surgery at Royal Papworth Hospital. Zoe completed her MSc in Advancing Physiotherapy Practice in 2019 focusing on the benefits of early mobilisation and exercise post Thoracic surgery. She has a keen interest in Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) and advancing clinical skills within Physiotherapy.

Nisha Bhudia

Pharmacist NAHP Audit Subcommittee lead.

Nisha has practised as hospital pharmacist for 23 years, 20 of which have she has spent working at Royal Brompton and Harefield Hospitals, one of the largest cardiothoracic centres in UK. Nisha has gained a range of specialist clinical expertise in cardiothoracic surgery, cardiology, heart and lung transplantation, mechanical support (VADs/ECMOs), critical care, theatres and anaesthesia. She is currently the lead pharmacist for critical care and anaesthesia at Royal Brompton and Harefield Hospital part of Guys and St Thomas NHS Foundation Trust.

Amy Chadwick

Lead Occupational Therapist

Amy has worked as the Lead Occupational Therapist at the Royal Papworth Hospital in Cambridge since May 2016, prior to this she had worked in a variety of roles in the East of England and London. Her focus over the last five years has been to grow the occupational therapy department and expand the scope of the service. She has a particular interest in improving pathways for our more frail patients, ensuring that both mental and physical health needs are assessed and treated, which has been especially important during the recent pandemic. In 2020 Amy started to study for a Master’s degree in Advanced Clinical Practice.

Vision

Her vision for the NAHP subcommittee group is to attract more Occupational Therapy members, and promote the valuable role within cardiothoracic surgery.

Ramanjit Kaur

Physician Associate NAHP Lead

Ramanjit is a Physician Associate working at John Radcliffe Hospital, and excited about her new post as the NAHP Physician Associate Lead. She is passionate about increasing awareness of the Physician Associate role and providing a diverse narrative to SCTS. In the coming months, she aims to drive the Physician Associate role, highlighting their contributions to healthcare and expanding their opportunities within Cardiothoracic surgery.

Kathryn Hewitt (From March 2024)

"Kathryn has been a Nurse Practitioner in Cardiothoracic Surgery for 8 years and a qualified ACP for 3 years. Kathryn has always had a passion for teaching and mentoring and she believes strongly in the importance of available education for all. Informed healthcare workers lead to informed patients and families, quality care and improved patient outcomes and that is something we should all be passionate about."