Rachel joined Hugh James in July 2021 and is a Respiratory Nurse Advisor in the specialist Asbestos team. She provides expert advice and support to mesothelioma clients and their families and works closely with the support groups we work in partnership with, including HASAG, the Mavis Nye Foundation, and the national asbestos charity, Mesothelioma UK.
Rachel moved to Hugh James from her longstanding role at Guy’s and St Thomas’s NHS Foundation Trust, where she spent over twelve years as a Mesothelioma UK Clinical Nurse Specialist. During her time there, Rachel worked with many of the leading law firms to ensure that patients have access to expert legal advice and support.
Rachel initially specialised in the care of patients diagnosed with HIV and worked at St Thomas’ Hospital before moving to St Bartholomew’s Hospital. During this time, Rachel successfully completed a MSc in Healthcare Research at Queen Mary’s University in London, and was part of the clinical trials team at St Bartholomew’s Hospital.
After four years, Rachel changed specialty to mesothelioma and lung cancer palliative care. Having worked for just over a year at the Royal Trinity Hospice to gain experience and build knowledge of palliative care, Rachel then went on to join the mesothelioma and lung cancer team at Guy’s and St Thomas’s Hospital. It was there that Rachel built up a huge amount of knowledge about the care and treatments for both lung cancer and mesothelioma patients.
Rachel has written articles for the British Nursing Journal and has been elected on to the Lung Cancer Nurses UK Committee. She has presented at numerous national and international conferences on nursing care for lung cancer patients, and more recently, Rachel has led on the formation of a mesothelioma online directory for all lung cancer nurses to access, which brings together into one place, key information about mesothelioma and treatment.
Rachel has also built up key relationships with major pharmaceutical companies and has acted as a consultant and key opinion leader on many patient related projects. This has included presenting on several educational webinars on immunotherapy.
Education
- Queen Mary’s University London, MSc in Healthcare Research
- Bournemouth University, BSc in Adult Nursing: 2000
Memberships
- Nursing and Midwifery Council
- Royal College of Nursing
- Lung Cancer Nurses UK Forum