A bit about me - Tracey-Jo Simpson

The internet can be a bit of anonymous place to do business and you can never really know the people you are doing business with from reading a few words.  So I thought I would introduce myself to you and tell you a bit about who I am and what drives me.

My name is Tracey-Jo Simpson and I run this business with the ongoing support of my husband David.  My career started as a teacher within further education, but having seen so much discrimination and non-integration for people who had learning disabilities I became a mature nursing student in order to understand the issues for people who have learning disabilities and to place myself in a position to influence changes for people who were clearly not being listened to. 

Since qualifying as a Learning Disability Nurse in the 90's this need to enable people to have a "voice" has continued with regard to people who have learning disabilities and/or mental ill health.  This resulted me in me being part of a Pilot scheme to enable women to access cervical screening within a large hospital setting, acting as a Citizen Advocate for a number of individuals and in 2006 contributing to a chapter on Health Screening in "Caring for People with Learning Disabilties" http://www.wiley.com for the University of Hertfordshire.  

Having worked within the NHS for 16 years, I was made redundant due to a local restructuring programme.  This enabled me to further develop the part-time freelance work already started in 1999, to a full time position.  I continue to work for NHS Professionals in order to ensure both my continued professional development and clinical skills are kept up-to-date, but also to ensure my freelance position does not distance me from current practice issues for both carers and individuals alike.