Here and Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust are delighted to officially welcome Kirsty Coates as Partnership Director for Sussex MSK Health. Kirsty also joins Here’s Enabling Team, bringing a strong track record in service transformation, operational leadership and cross-sector partnership working. 

Kirsty is already well-known to many Here.

As our former Head of Operations, she played a key role in shaping innovative services and led the organisation’s COVID-19 vaccination programme. Since then, she has continued to build experience in senior roles across the NHS and voluntary sector, most recently as Operations Director at Social Tech Trust, where she focused on using technology to drive social impact.

In her new role, Kirsty will work in partnership with colleagues across Here, Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust and the wider system to lead the development of Sussex MSK Health — an integrated service for people with musculoskeletal conditions across Brighton & Hove and West Sussex. Her focus will be on supporting collaboration, improving outcomes, and ensuring people can access the right care at the right time. 

Kirsty Coates added: “It’s a real pleasure to return to Here at such an exciting and important time. I’m passionate about working in partnership to develop person-centred, sustainable services, and I’m looking forward to contributing to the next chapter of Sussex MSK Health alongside such a dedicated and talented team.”

After more than a decade of visionary leadership, Natalie Blunt is moving on from her role as Managing Director of Sussex MSK Partnership Central and as a member of the Here board. As she steps away, we want to take a moment to reflect on her immense contribution, celebrate the legacy she leaves, and simply say: thank you, Natalie.

Transforming MSK Care at Here

Natalie has been with Here for 15 years, dedicating her career to transforming musculoskeletal (MSK) care both locally and nationally. She has spent the last five years as Director of MSK services, and her expertise, clarity of purpose, and relentless focus on people have made a lasting mark on everything we do.

Leading Sussex MSK Partnership Central

She has been at the heart of Sussex MSK Partnership Central since its formation in 2014, a bold and innovative joint venture between Here and Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust. Under her leadership, what began as an ambitious idea has grown into a national exemplar of joined-up, person-centred MSK care for a population of over 1 million people in Sussex.

Championing Whole-Person MSK Health

Throughout her time with us, Natalie has championed MSK health as a vital part of overall wellbeing, not just something to treat, but something to prioritise. She’s driven a whole-person approach, seeing beyond symptoms to the lives behind them. As she often reminded us, “an elbow never walked into a treatment room on its own.” It’s that clarity, always putting people first, that has shaped the service we are so proud of today.

Natalie with Laura Finucane

Standout Moments in Natalie’s MSK Journey

There have been many standout moments along Natalie’s MSK journey with Here.

2015: A National First in Patient Leadership

In 2015, Natalie helped usher in a national first, recruiting a Patient Director. This groundbreaking move placed people with lived experience at the centre of service design and paved the way for our innovative Health Builders Programme.

2019: Award-Winning Excellence

2019 was a year of celebration. The partnership won an HSJ Partnership Award and was rated Outstanding by the CQC, a reflection of the excellence she helped cultivate every day as Deputy MD.

2020: Responding to the COVID-19 Pandemic

During the most challenging days of the COVID-19 pandemic, Natalie led the team to proactively redeploy MSK expertise to support the urgent care system, a testament to her ability to see the bigger picture and act swiftly in the face of crisis.

2022: Publishing The CASE for Change

In 2022, she co-authored The CASE for Change, a landmark publication with Laura Finucane that laid out a compelling vision for excellence in MSK care. Its influence continues to resonate across clinical and commissioning communities alike.

2023: National Recognition for Innovation

And in 2023, Sussex MSK Partnership Central was recognised again; this time with a HealthTech Award, highlighting how innovation and compassion can go hand in hand.

Pioneering Community Appointment Days

One of Natalie’s most celebrated achievements came with the creation of our Community Appointment Days, a new, person-focused approach that made national headlines and is now a model now emulated across the sector.

2024/25: Expanding MSK Care Across Sussex

In 2024/25, Natalie played a key role in developing and launching Sussex MSK Health: Brighton, Hove and West Sussex, expanding our innovative approach to MSK care to serve a population of over one million people.

Natalie at an MSK conference

Leading with Purpose and Courage

Natalie’s leadership has been defined by clarity of vision, fierce advocacy for personalised care, and a deep belief in the power of partnership. She has shown us what it means to lead with purpose and to act courageously.

A Lasting Impact at Here

As a board member at Here, Natalie also brought energy, wisdom and challenge, helping ensure our work stayed connected to our vision and values. Her presence will be deeply missed, but her influence will continue to shape our work for years to come.

Laura Finucane, our Clinical Director at Sussex MSK Partnership Central, is also President of The International Federation of Orthopaedic Manipulative Therapists (IFOMPT).

This year the International Federation of Orthopaedic Manipulative Physical Therapists (IFOMPT) – the world conference of musculoskeletal and manual physical therapy, celebrates its 50th year as a global leader in Orthopaedic Manual Physical Therapy (OMPT) excellence. The event welcomes experts from all over the world to its conference in Switzerland to explore:

1. Innovative models of care in musculoskeletal and manual physical therapy
2. Physical therapy futures – emerging areas
3. Expertise in musculoskeletal and manual physical therapy

“Sharing ideas and initiatives among colleagues and experts is crucial for developing excellence and helps pave the way for reducing musculoskeletal disorders globally – and enables people to bring new ideas into their local services.

 

This is my fourth and final year as president, and the 50th anniversary of IFOMPT, and I am excited about the discussion and debates and learning about the initiatives taking place around the world and turning those ideas into practice.” ~ Laura Finucane president of IFOMPT and Clinical Director for Sussex MSK Partnership.

Laura has been involved with IFOMPT for the last 18 years, serving on the executive committee for the last 12 years and president from 2020-2024.

Also attending from Sussex MSK Partnership Central are Andrew Kemp and Stephanie Hemmings.

Andrew is an Advanced Practitioner and Stephanie is a research and Audit Lead, Senior MSK Physiotherapist and Lecturer in Physiotherapy at University of Brighton.

They will be presenting a poster titled “Equity factors in trials of physiotherapy for meniscus tear: A systematic review”​  and Stephanie will also be presenting on our nationally celebrated Community Appointment Days (CADs).

The International Federation of Orthopaedic Manipulative Physical Therapists Incorporated represents groups of Manipulative and Manual Physical Therapists around the world who have completed stringent post-registration/post-graduation specialisation programmes in the field of neuro-musculoskeletal disorders.

Speaking at TedX Brighton is an experience that is difficult to put into words. The whole process is magical. From the thrill of being selected as a speaker, to the connection with other speakers, working on our talks and then the big moment of stepping onto the red dot.

Putting together a TedX talk is a process of really exploring a subject and weaving in stories to make it resonate with people. We worked over several months on our talks to create them. Each time weaving in more stories to make the message more powerful.

The message needs to resonate with people, and speak to people no matter who they are. And I knew the Here team were in the audience, so they were in my mind as I talked.

Photograph: Jenny Handy

Here’s a summary of what I talked about:

We need to value difference more

Who do we listen to and believe? Which side of a story? And do we look for the other side of that story to understand it? Or are we all stuck inside our own heads, our own lives, and our own experiences?

What gets valued is ‘sameness’ over difference. Who looks most like most of the leaders we see around us. Who decides what books we read, what films we get to watch and who gets listened to? The past is glorified with one lens only. So we are told the things that people want us to believe. That great things happened and the leaders were great, but if we look closer there are stories there that we do not hear.

There is always another side to a story

When we make judgements on other people, we do that from our own perspective. We need to consider that we each have our own story, experience and version of things. None of us are perfect, we all judge other people and we all have things to learn about our own behaviour and biases.

If we don’t think about those things, there’s a huge risk. The world faces huge problems, so we need to make sure we listen to other people without judging and pay attention to the other side of stories. Otherwise, we risk making decisions without considering how they impact different people.

How do you react if you meet someone with a different opinion to you? How do you respond? And are you trying to persuade people you are right and they are wrong? Or are you listening to what they have to say? What is their side of the story, and how can you have conversations where you might disagree on something.

Photograph: Jenny Handy

How can we value our differences more?

We can learn to value and appreciate people with different opinions to ours if we try. We need to learn how to cross and reach out to another side of a story and make sure we are really listening. We know it will take time, it won’t be easy and this is all a journey that we are all going on to reach a place of understanding.

We need to learn how to listen to each other, how to communicate with each other, and how to understand that it’s OK to disagree and not hate each other. Look for the learning opportunity. Try having different conversations with people and see if you can reach a place of understanding others.

When we deliver our exceptional care, or when we talk to each other to understand each other more, what can we do about understanding each other’s perspectives better?

And if we can do that, maybe we can understand the truth, value and power in our differences.

Thank you so much TedX Brighton, for a totally unforgettable experience. See you next time for more talks and ideas worth spreading on the red dot.

We’re really proud of our colleagues and the amazing work they do for our communities and healthcare.  These stories are from the people that work at Here, who work so hard everyday to provide exceptional care, for everyone.

This week we’re spotlighting Enam, our SMSKP Project Coordinator. Enam has been working for Here since March 2022.

Why did you choose to work in MSK?

I was working in the Vax team, and I was approached by a colleague to apply for the role. The role interested me as the work seemed interesting and exciting. Considering the skills I learned from being in the vax team I was intrigued to see if I could rise to the challenge of MSK.

Describe what you do in 100 words.

A project is initially discussed within MSK Leads. Our Manager, Andy Henderson, then meets us to discuss and allocate an agreed project. Projects have the definition of being strategically important to the MSK service such as where we can improve / create a patient service or system and for Here itself such as improving the office space for staff (but these projects are rare).

Once a project is allocated it is up to the project coordinator to drive, implement and deliver the project within its set deadline. We also handle the aftermath of the project, such as reviews and reporting.

What do you enjoy most about your role?

The variety, no two projects are the same. I am a keen learner and always looking to improve my knowledge of MSK and project management. The team around me is great, our project team is actually split on to two with Development and Improvement, working alongside them is great.

Seeing a project completed and being implemented into the service has its sense of pride knowing the team put a lot of effort and time in to it.

What would you say to someone thinking about a career in MSK?

Do not be afraid of not knowing. The organisation is great and provides training and learnings. You can always ask for support. MSK is a huge service. From an admin / operations perspective there are plenty of opportunities to develop.

How would you describe the MSK in one word?

Dynamic

It feels like we blinked – and March was done. It was a busy month and with a lot of hard but exciting work happening all across the organisation. Here’s just a little of what happened to keep you up to date…

• Our Impact Report for 2023 – 2024 launched where we celebrated the work we have been doing, the difference we have made and milestones we have reached – Here Annual report 2023 (hereweare.org.uk)

• Our AGM – We came together to talk about what has been important to us this year, what has made a difference and where would we like to go. We focused on our purpose and what single change would help us better meet our purpose. It made us think, we had some laughs (and cake!) and looking forward to next year!
• PLM Live 2024 – This year saw another successful event at County Hall with the theme of Mental Health and Trauma. Dr Rangan Chatterjee and Dr Ayan Panja welcomed keynote speaker – renowned addiction expert, speaker author Dr. Gabor Maté sought after for his expertise on trauma, addiction, stress and childhood development.

• We published our first sustainability blog – Sustainability goals: Reduced inequalities
• Helen set out in her latest blog how we work to offer exceptional care, for everyone: Creating long term health: 4 ingredients for a different approach.
• Staff Survey – this year we had the highest number of people take part in our annual survey! These were some of the top results:

Our Impact Report 2023-2024 is now up on our website, showing the impact we have and showcasing some of the great work we’ve been so proud of this year!

Here’s Impact Report 2023-2024

In our report you’ll find out about:

• How our Health Builders are a vital part of our unique person-centred approach.
• Celebrate 10 incredible years of MSK transformation with us.
• Learn about how our equality dashboards are helping us to find those who are not accessing health services and how we’re using the data they collect to co-create services that are better suited and accessible, for everyone.

We would love you to hear your thoughts and feedback. Please feel free to share with anyone else you might think would like to find out more about us. 

If you’re interested in working with us, or finding out more about our projects, partnerships and opportunities, please do get in touch. We love to connect, share best practice and explore collaborations.

here.innovation@nhs.net

We are appalled by the reported comments made by Frank Hester, CEO of TPP. Like many NHS providers, TPP are a provider of our SystmOne electronic patient record.

Dr Helen Curr our CEO and the Here board said

“The reported comments are unmistakably misogynistic, racist and unacceptable. As a social enterprise these comments are in stark contrast with the values we champion in everything we do. We believe our leaders set the standard for what is acceptable – both in what they say, and what is allowed to pass unchallenged.”

As a result we will be contacting TPP to make a formal complaint, and to request detail of the steps they will take as an organisation to ensure an inclusive, respectful environment within their organisation, and how they will make their action plans publicly available.

We urge all organisations working with TPP to consider taking similar action – to speak out and challenge views that have no place in healthcare, or within our society, and to use this opportunity to take a collective stance on what passes for acceptable in public life.

We’re very proud of our colleagues and the work they do for our communities and healthcare.  This is part of an ongoing series of stories from the people that work at Here and all of the different services we deliver.

Today we meet Jamie Tulley who is a Patient Care Advisor (PCA) in the Brighton and Hove Memory Assessment Service. Jamie has been working for Here within MAS just over two years.

Why did you choose to work in the Brighton and Hove Memory Assessment Service (MAS)?

Back in 2014 I worked in a care home looking after residents with Alzheimer’s and dementia, and I wanted to get back into that line of work and for the NHS as well. When this job was advertised I went for it and thankfully got the job.

Tell us more about your role as a Patient Care Advisor (PCA)

We deal with incoming calls, booking in people to arrange of appointments, whether that’s from the start of the service with the first contact call, right through to the assessments and things like that. I do a lot of administration as well, like cross checks, dealing with the day to day organisation as well, making sure it’s running. But I’d say the main thing is being that first port of call in terms of dealing with patients predominantly, and loved ones as well.

What would you say to someone thinking about a career in the Brighton and Hove Memory Assessment Service (MAS)?

I think it’s certainly a great place to work, especially if you’re a kind and compassionate person. I think we give back to our patients and loved ones, especially with it being such a really interesting diagnosis as well compared to others. There’s sort of a taboo around Alzheimer’s and dementia. So I think it’s a very rewarding job and service to work for.

How would you describe MAS in one word?

I think I’ve already said it but I would probably say compassionate. Again, I think it’s not only our patients that we’re caring for, but it’s also for the loved ones as well. So, I think the word compassionate probably stands out more than others.

• Menopause@Work hosted their very first in person networking breakfast event which welcomed 25 people and was a fantastic success!
• We were really proud to be short listed for 6 awards this year. Including ‘Innovation of the Year’ for the UK Social Enterprise Awards and ‘Most Promising Pilot’ for the HTN Awards 2023.
• In November celebrated the incredible hard work of our Vax team over the last three years, as our formal involvement in the COVID Vaccine primary care collaboration in Brighton & Hove came to a close.
• We launched our new brand!

Thank you to everyone at Here for all their hard work this year. We’re really excited to see what amazing things we achieve together in 2024!