Coaching, Advocacy and Consulting
PERSONAL, EXECUTIVE & LEADERSHIP COACHING
HEALTHCARE ACCESS & ADVOCACY CONSULTANCY
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Advocacy and Consultancy
FOR WHEN “IT’S THE POLICY” IS JUST A BIT CRAP.
People with chronic pain already have enough to deal with.
And they deserve healthcare services that keep that in mind. Don’t you think?
Subscribe To The Diary Of A Carer
Navigating UK healthcare when you’re already at your limit is brutal. Join our community for the unfiltered truth about the healthcare experience…along with reflections to help you find calm in the chaos.
Let’s be real here
Navigating the chaotic NHS creates more distress for people living with chronic pain, and it’s unignorable.
I invite healthcare leaders and teams to explore making access to healthcare easier for patients, carers, and visitors.
My mission is simple: remove unnecessary burden, stress and confusion. Clear the hurdles. Help people reach their appointments smoothly, safely, and on time.
If you share my mission, let’s talk.
CHRONIC PAIN AND DISABILITY CAN LOOK LIKE ANYTHING, HAPPEN TO ANYONE, AND EVERYONE DESERVES TO FEEL SUPPORTED.
WHO AM I?
“The Unignorable Advocate”
HI! I’M ANGELA, AN EXECUTIVE COACH AND ACCESS AND ADVOCACY CONSULTANT FROM THE UK.
For 35 years, I worked in and alongside the NHS in senior clinical, operational, leadership, and consultancy roles. I helped design and deliver services. I sat in board meetings where decisions were made. I coached the people carrying the weight of those decisions. I trained doctors and nurses to coach others so that coaching became part of everyday conversations. My contributions have been recognised in the clinical leadership press.
I understand how hospitals actually work. I understand how compromises get made. And I understand the pressure nurses and doctors carry every day. I’m not naive about the NHS. I know its brilliance. I also know its constraints.
What I didn’t understand, not fully, was what it feels like to navigate the system when you’re already at your limit.
That understanding arrived on July 22nd, 2023.
My lovely partner, Mark, woke up with excruciating, debilitating, backpain. He’s been labelled as one of those “complex cases” by medical professionals. From that moment on, I began to see healthcare from another side. From the appointment letter, to the parking, to the signage. It was all so unclear. Or unfit for purpose.
Why are the car parks miles away from the designated entrance?Why are there so few disabled bays and drop off points? Why does no-one think to send out the correct information. And where are the reception staff? Where is the CARE?
Living with chronic pain changes how you experience everything. It strips away tolerance for friction. It narrows attention to what is missing, unclear, inaccessible, and unnecessarily hard long before you reach a clinician. By the time care begins, people are already anxious and exhausted.
Now with my experiences at the intersection of these two perspectives, I want to help make sure no-one else gets lost, traumatised, or feels foolish asking for help. With the Diary Of A Carer I’m trying to get the word out:
CARE FOR PEOPLE WITH CHRONIC PAIN SHOULD START LONG BEFORE THEY REACH A CLINICIAN.
Not to blame anyone. But to make the invisible visible. To ask better questions about access. To help healthcare organisations see where anxiety is generated long before treatment begins. And to explore how access to care might be designed better for people who are already at their physical and emotional limit.
For people living with chronic pain, it can be the difference between coping and collapse.
I’m committed to challenging healthcare leaders, sparking complex conversations and pushing for action. Welcome to my website.
DIARY OF A CARER
THE DIARY OF A CARER IS AN UNFILTERED JOURNEY INTO THE BRUTAL REALITY OF NAVIGATING UK HEALTHCARE SERVICES ALONG WITH REFLECTIONS AND STORIES TO HELP US FIND CALM IN THE CHAOS.
Here you’ll find a collection of blog posts around topics such as chronic pain, navigating healthcare, wellbeing, advocacy, as well as stories and reflections written by me, my clients and my colleagues.
WORK WITH ME
If you’re interested in hiring me for access and advocacy consulting you can contact me using the form below.
I’ll do the legwork most teams don’t have the time to do. Walking routes. Reading letters as a first timer. Paying attention to where people get lost, give up, or feel foolish asking for help.
This starts with a conversation and a clear look at what’s getting in the way, and whether it’s something we should work on together.
Book a conversation.
Angela Watson 