Quality Improvement Team for
Care Homes & Primary Care Settings
Maggie Byers-Smith – Lead Nurse – QI and Standards, Care Homes & Primary Care
Hi,
I’m Maggie Byers-Smith, Lead Nurse, Quality Improvement (QI) & Standards, Primary Care & Care Homes. I qualified as a Registered General Nurse in 1990 and have an extensive, varied career in the NHS including medical specialties, Clinical Support Worker development, Clinical Education & Training and Programme Management. I have also spent some time in the Private and Local Authority Social Care sector. I am passionate about people getting the right care, at the right time, by skilled and competent staff across Health and Social Care.
I have led and been involved in a variety of QI initiatives since 2007. I see QI as everyone’s business with strength in working across sectors and organisations to make improvements and achieve common goals.
Audrey Pringle – Team Lead
Hi, I’m Audrey and I have worked in the NHS since 1988. My background is working with the elderly in hospital based settings. I have also worked within both NHS Lothians Infection Prevention and Control Team and latterly with the Health Protection Team. I also worked across North Edinburgh care homes, as part of a Care Home Liaison eam pilot in 2015. These roles have afforded me the opportunity and privilege to work with the care homes across Lothian.
I am looking forward to managing a team again in this new role and to forming lasting and meaningful relationships with the care homes and the staff working in this sector., supporting the team and the care home through tests of change and quality improvement initiatives.
Eleanor Laird – Associate Quality Improvement Advisor
West Lothian – and some of Edinburgh (to be decided)
My name is Eleanor, I qualified as a mental health nurse in 2016. I have worked as a staff nurse in HBCCC, CAMHS and a Male Dementia challenging behaviour ward where I also worked as a deputy charge nurse. Prior to completing my nursing degree, I worked as a care assistant in a local care home.
The experiences I have had in these areas have started my interest in quality improvement and ultimately brought me to where I am today.
Sam Galbraith – Associate Quality Improvement Advisor
East Lothian – and some of Edinburgh (to be decided)
Hello, my name is Sam. I have been a nurse for almost 10 years. After qualifying as an Adult Nurse in 2012 I have spent most of my career working within acute surgical wards. Working in these clinical areas gave me the privileged opportunity to care for a varied group of people whilst expanding my knowledge.
As I gained experience, I became passionate about quality improvement and became involved in the Lothian Accredited Care Assurance Standards. This led to me joining the Quality Improvement Team for Care Homes and Primary Care Settings in December 2021. I am looking forward to working closely with Care Home staff and the residents, supporting them through their Quality Improvement projects.
Jennifer Newman – Associate Quality Improvement Advisor
Edinburgh (to be decided exactly what areas)
Hi, I’m Jennifer and I qualified as an Adult Nurse in 2012. I have worked in a various areas of nursing including medicine of the elderly, acute medicine and community, with recent experience as a Nurse Practitioner within a Hospital at Home team.
Throughout my career I have been passionate about being a part of positive change and with that my interest in quality improvement grew. I am excited now to be a part of the Care Home and Primary Care Quality Improvement Team and supporting improvement projects throughout NHS Lothian.
Hazel Stewart – Associate Quality Improvement Advisor
Mid Lothian – and some of Edinburgh (to be decided)
Hi I’m Hazel, I have I’ve worked in care for most of my working career, I also have a Health Psychology degree and Mental Health Nursing degree.
I started as a Care at Home Support Worker in the community, working with clients with various different needs. I then worked as a Nursing Assistant in various Care of the Elderly Wards in NHS Lothian.
Upon qualifying as a Mental Health Nurse I moved into working with people with Acquired Brain Injuries and challenging behaviour who often had very complex needs requiring a very person-centred approach and nursing methods that at times had to “think out the box”. More recently I have spent time with the NHS Lothian Health Protection Team working in the Care Home team during the Covid 19 outbreak.
I am very passionate about working with people with wide and varying needs such as those which may be experienced by residents in Care Homes and Primary Care settings and ensuring they receive the best care possible using a person-centred approach. I am also very passionate about improving opportunities for staff and all those involved in Care Homes and Primary Care Settings and it’s important to me to work alongside colleagues and recognise that although we may all come from different sectors we are part of a big team caring for Care Homes and Primary Care Settings in various ways.
Julie Kershaw – Project Support Officer
Hi I’m Julie and I joined NHS Lothian in November 2020. I started working within the Care Home Programme Team, however over the last year as the team has grown to incorporate QI and Standards and the Lothian Care Academy. As a Project Support Office I work between the Care Home Programme Team and the QI and Standards team – it’s great to have a wide vary of topics to work on across the teams to learn and develop from.
Prior to working with the NHS I worked within Tourism and Event Management, organising and managing many medical conferences and events for over 20 years. These transferrable skills allow me to provide great support to developing projects.
I’m passionate and enthusiastic about helping and supporting my colleagues along with partnerships and stakeholders a like, whist working on projects throughout NHS Lothian
