About Steve Turner

Registered nurse (retired) with a background including community mental health practice, governance, NHS management, clinical education, healthcare consultancy & clinical information technology.

My Story:
After 10 years of travelling the world, I began professional career as a nurse at St George’s Hospital in London in 1981, eventually specialising in mental health. I later spent a decade working on hospital clinical systems. In 1999 I returned to the NHS as a senior manager, successfully revamping the Information Management and Technology department at an NHS Trust. The brief for this role was to make Information technology work for patients.

In 2002 I returned to clinical practice becoming a nurse prescriber in a Mental Health Assertive Outreach Team, working with vulnerable people in a rural community. In 2008 I set up my own company specialising in inter-disciplinary working, clinical education, and patient engagement.
Of all the many areas of experience I’d say that working in a variety of roles, travelling and experiencing other cultures have had the most beneficial influence on my work.
I have successfully piloted, ‘patient-led clinical education and patient led clinical reviews’. I’m now working on developing, sharing and promoting this approach including writing on ‘Patient Led Care’.

In my unusual career I’ve seen many changes from different angles. I’ve seen, and been part of, some great improvements in healthcare. I’ve also seen things go round in circles and really good ideas lie dormant for many years. I’ve become increasingly aware of the need for us clinicians to ‘let go’ by supporting & educating rather than telling patients what to do.I believe in putting patients in charge of their own care, sharing all information, learning together, working across professional boundaries, and jumping over unnecessary hierarchies. This idea isn’t new, there are many examples of how this can be done, and it isn’t as difficult to implement as many in authority might think. This is what healthcare ‘modernisation’ really involves. Working together as equals. When we do this, we all benefit.

My Associates and I have also developed, and successfully piloted, ‘patient led clinical medicines reviews’, some feedback on which is shown below.

 

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