Biography

I have a BA Honours degree in French and European Studies from the University of Leeds. I also took a Postgraduate Certificate of Education at the University of York.

I trained as a journalist with Westminster Press and worked on local newspapers including the well-known Bradford Telegraph & Argus. Later, I specialised in health and medical journalism and worked on a number of leading titles, including as a reporter on Pulse, the weekly magazine for GPs; as news editor on Medical Monitor, a GPs’ magazine, and UK editor on Scrip, a twice-weekly newspaper for the global pharmaceutical industry. I have also been deputy editor on Care and Health, a magazine for NHS and social care professionals.

I write widely for national newspapers and magazines, including the Guardian, Independent, Independent on Sunday, Observer, Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday and Sunday Mirror. I have also worked for websites including BBC Online, WebMD and BMJ Online.

I was elected and served as chair of the Guild of Health Writers from 2009-11, and I am a member of the Medical Journalists’ Association.

In 2016, I published an ebook, Tales from the Frontline: Improving the NHS and Social Care, which is available on Amazon through Kindle Direct Publishing.

AWARDS

I have been awarded prizes for articles in the MJA Awards in 1999, for an article in The Independent, and 2005, for work in the nursing press, both for excellence in medical journalism.