Fiona Evans (Specialist Nurse, Community Bladder and Bowel Team, North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust) was recently nominated for the CLIC Awards 2022. Read about the fantastic work Fiona has been doing below:
“I would like to nominate Fiona Evans for her work promoting menopause awareness and skills for clinicians in the Community Bladder and Bowel service and endeavouring to improve the menopause policy for employees of the Trust.
As many colleagues working in the bladder and bowel speciality will agree, hormonal changes, particularly the perimenopause/menopause, can have a significant impact on the wellbeing, both physically and psychologically, of women, including urinary symptoms.
Partly through her own negative lived-experience of menopause symptoms, Fiona has developed a passionate interest in the menopause, its effect and management. Fiona has undertaken courses and regularly logs onto webinars, all in her own time, to then deliver presentations and updates to the Bladder and Bowel team. All the clinicians within the team feel that Fiona’s knowledge and enthusiasm has benefitted and improved our assessment process, including better assessment of the patient’s menopausal status and the possible hormonal influences on their condition.
Fiona has not only channeled her interest and passion for addressing menopausal symptoms for the Bladder and Bowel service users but has been looking at the menopause policy and how it can be improved to support Trust employees. Fiona acknowledged that the Trust aims to be “menopause friendly” but, having met with the Trust well-being team, identified some weaknesses in the policy and support offered to staff. As a result of that meeting with the Trust wellbeing team, Fiona then wrote to the Chief Executive Officer of NCIC requesting an opportunity to discuss possible ways to better support staff wellbeing.”
To find out more about Fiona’s work, please contact her directly: [email protected]
