Transforming Wound and Lymphoedema Care

Director of Education, Accelerate

Georgina has over 25 years of experience in clinical practice, teaching and learning.

Georgina trained and served as a military nurse within the British Army, serving in mainland UK and on operational duties until 2004, when she moved to the NHS. She has held roles within the NHS such as Community Staff Nurse, District Nursing Sister and Modern Matron, before coming into education in 2010.

Georgina spent 10 years at the University of Central Lancashire, most recently leading The Family, Community and Public Health portfolio, and has focused specifically on developing education in community and district nursing, as well as leg ulcer/lower limb care and management, whilst always maintaining an active role in clinical practice.

Georgina is registered as a Community Specialist Practitioner and V300 non-medical prescriber with the Nursing and Midwifery Council and holds a master's degree in education (MEd). She is passionate about education as a foundation to support confident and competent clinical practice within the fields of tissue viability and lower limb care.

Director of National Clinical Services, Accelerate

Rebecca, known as Beccy, is a well known and recognised national leader in lymphoedema. She is passionate and committed to raising awareness of the potential harm caused to this marginalised community of patients by this condition.

Beccy is a trustee of the British Lymphology Society (BLS) and a member of the BLS scientific committee. We are delighted that Beccy will be part of the expert panel with you on this day.

Senior Lecturer at Leeds Beckett University, School of Health (Facilitator)

Louise is a district nurse who joined Leeds Beckett University's School of Health in 2024 as a senior lecturer. Louise supports post-registration learners on District Nursing and Non-Medical Prescribing courses. She has a particular focus in the fields of compassionate leadership, lived experience, and quality care that reflects leading with humanity.

Louise has worked in the NHS for most of her career. After leaving intensive care nursing she worked as a district nurse before becoming a community team leader for an inner city NHS Community Care Trust. Louise is a queen's nurse and a registered professional nurse advocate.

Academy Teacher, Accelerate and RCN GPN Forum Co-Chair

Since qualifying as a registered nurse, Katy has worked in a variety of posts across both primary and secondary care. Her professional interests lie in the community setting, particularly general practice where she worked as a practice nurse for many years. After completing her specialist practitioner General Practice Nurse postgraduate diploma in 2007, she became a practice teacher and avid promoter of educational opportunities within practice nursing, focusing her master's dissertation on the subject area.

Katy taught on the general practice nurse foundation course before taking up a full-time teaching post at the University of Central Lancashire in 2016.

Katy joined the RCN as a student nurse and became a member of the GPN forum committee in January 2017. She is a queen's nurse and an active member of her local GPN forum. Kathryn has contributed to a chapter in the 3rd edition of The Textbook of Non-Medical Prescribing (Nuttall & Rutt-Howard, 2020) and has been published in several nursing journals. She is a member of the Association of General Practice Nurse Educators and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

Associate Director of Wound Care, Accelerate

Kate previously worked at the University of Huddersfield where she was a senior lecturer in Tissue Viability for two years, and Leeds Community Healthcare Trust where she has worked as a tissue viability nurse specialist for 12 years.

Kate's reputation as a national leader and teacher in Tissue Viability is well known. She is currently vice-chair and treasurer of Legs Matter and a trustee and treasurer of the Society of Tissue Viability.

Kate has a special interest in lower limb wounds and antimicrobial stewardship which aligns well with Accelerate's expertise in these areas.

Consultant Clinical Nurse Specialist in Tissue Viability

Fran has worked in wound care as a specialist nurse for 25 years, primarily within a community context. As part of the East London Wound Healing Centre, specific knowledge and expertise was gained in managing complex and hard to heal wounds with an increasing emphasis upon the lower limb.

This led to the development of the Accelerate strapping technique, an advanced compression skill. Fran was part of the team that spun out of the NHS in 2011 to form Accelerate CIC, an award-winning social enterprise dedicated to changing lives for people with wounds and lymphoedema. Within Accelerate she held the position of clinical director during a time of organisational growth and innovative practice. She has presented at conferences, written and co-authored numerous articles and contributed to best practice guidance.

Fran continues to work with Accelerate, primarily as an educator. She is an advocate of partnership working, both with patients and practitioners to challenge current practice, make a difference and explore how care can be delivered in new and innovative ways.