About the Author
I am a logophile; I love collecting words and funny phrases, the gems that people speak in their everyday working lives. They make me chuckle every time I read them! I love writing my books in the company of my two cats, Jess and Maisie or my son Ed.
How did it start?
‘Manage your language: how to get ahead in health and social care’ book series builds on my lifetime of work in supporting people in health and social care to do a good job.
It comes from my fascination with the spoken word, jargon and the popular phrases used by managers and staff in health and social care in the UK.
I started collecting words and phrases when I ‘jumped over the fence’ from working in social care for 30 years to work in the National Health Service, the publicly funded UK health sector, as a health education manager.
What happened?
I thought I had landed in a different world and needed a translator! It was like something out of the TV series 'The Office' surreal at times as well as traumatising and unsettling. Unsurprisingly, I was not the only one who felt this way! As one manager commented, “There is so much Bla bla bla. We need to be simple and jargon-free!”
Why focus on communication?
But it’s not just in health care; staff in social care complain about the language they use too! Sometimes health and social care staff struggle to communicate with each other because they work for different organisations. I can vouch that I haven't changed that much having worked in both sectors, so there is no reason not to get on with each other. We are all working for the same aim, to make the world a safer and better place for people to live the best of their lives. Read my musings to read my blogs.
Who am I?
I am from the UK and a graduate of Lancaster University. I have over 30 years' experience in the health, social care, and education sectors in the UK.
My vision
I want to demystify the language used by managers so that we can work out what on earth is going on and get on with the job quickly. I want this reading experience to be an absolutely phenomenal journey, so you can learn the language whenever you want to, but also ask others to use simpler, plain language so we can all start communicating together and make a difference!
Find out more
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don't forget to #manageyourlanguage