“I’d never work anywhere else, it’s where my heart is,” says research practitioner Lisa Swindells who is celebrating 25 years of working at Salford Royal, mainly caring for stroke patients.
She’s immensely proud of the quality of stroke care given to patients at the hospital and the innovations that she’s seen in more than two decades in the stroke unit.
Lisa’s first role in the NHS was as a member of the domestic team at the old Ladywell Hospital before she became a support worker in the rheumatology ward at the then Hope Hospital, assisting patients with daily care and carrying out clinical observations and other tasks.
A two-year course at Manchester Metropolitan University helped her develop her practitioner skills and she then became part of the team working on the new stroke unit which opened in 2004. Sarah Heathcote, now a non-medical consultant in stroke, was her mentor and encouraged her to expand her skills and knowledge, including attending conferences.
During her time on the stroke unit, Lisa got to know many of the research delivery team – it has always been at the forefront of stroke research – and so taking up a role as a research practitioner two years ago meant she was still among familiar faces. She’s pictured above with Lead Research Nurse back in 2009.
And she says she’s loving the continued patient contact and work with the stroke team. Lisa is mainly working on the international Stroke-IMPaCT study, which is looking at the links between the immune system and cognitive decline (memory, language, thinking and judgment problems) after stroke.
Lisa added: “Stroke is my passion and has been ever since I started work in the unit. I’m really getting my teeth into research now – it’s busy and it can be really hard work, but it’s important for the future care of our patients.”