Maria Parsonage
Chair of Respiratory Disease Sub Committee
Pleural Disease Lead
I am a Respiratory Nurse Consultant working across Respiratory Medicine and Pleural Disease at Wirral University NHS Foundation Trust. I have been working in advanced respiratory nursing practice across the Wirral Peninsula since 2002 and I am passionate about evidence based respiratory healthcare. I have been instrumental in developing advanced pleural services across the Trust over the last 10 years and delivering services to patients with both benign and malignant pleural disease. As the pleural nursing lead, I am responsible for nurse led pleural clinics and procedure lists. I have written policy and guidance and I support medical staff and other health care professionals to gain competence with advanced pleural procedures.
Nationally, I am a member of the British Thoracic Society new Pleural Guideline group; on the executive committee for the UK Pleural Society and a member of the British Thoracic Society Lung Cancer & Mesothelioma Specialist Advisory Group. I hope as the ARNS Sub-Committee pleural lead I can inspire others to push forward modern pleural nursing in the ever changing and challenging socio-economic environment.
Beverley Bostock
Asthma Lead
Beverley qualified as a nurse at St George’s Hospital London. Her qualifications include an MSc in Respiratory Care and an MA in Medical Ethics and Law and she is an independent nurse prescriber.
Beverley is a nurse practitioner in general practice in Gloucestershire. She has extensive education experience as Education Lead at Education for Health in Warwickshire and holds editorial writing and reviewing roles with several journals. These include Editor in Chief of the British Journal of Primary Care Nursing and Consultant Editor for Practice Nurse Journal. She is a visiting lecturer in behaviour change at Imperial College London for the MSc in Preventive Cardiology.
Beverley is a member of the Topic Expert Group which development the Asthma Quality Standards for NICE and sat on the committee for the National Review of Asthma Deaths. She is a nurse member for the Primary Care Cardiovascular Society.
Beverley was made a Queen’s Nurse in 2015.
Sharon Stothard
Bronchiectasis Lead
I qualified as a nurse in 1990 and have worked in medicine in Sunderland since qualifying. In 1998 I became Junior Sister on an acute respiratory ward and 2 years later became Respiratory Nurse Specialist and Chest Clinic manager.
I gained my Bsc in Nursing in 2001 and Msc in Advanced nursing practice in 2005.
I have developed many services over my 17 years as a respiratory specialist nurse including difficult asthma, sleep service and COPD nursing team. The Chest clinic, it’s activity and personnel have tripled in size. I am a member of the BTS, ARNS, ARTP and ERS and have been for many years. I teach both internally and externally and have recently been speaking at national conferences.
I won the Nursing Times Respiratory Award 2016 for my work with learning disabilities and asthma and received the Trust award for outstanding achievement 2016.
My main interests are asthma, bronchiectasis and TB. I have finally written and article and had it published in the Nursing Times.
Debbie Roots
ILD lead
Debbie first qualified as a nurse in 1984-first as an enrolled nurse and then converting to a registered nurse in 1998. She has a degree in specialist practice-respiratory nursing and is a non-medical prescriber. She also has completed a heart failure masters module and leadership training.
Debbie is currently a respiratory nurse consultant at Homerton University Hospital in Hackney, London. She manages leads and develops four services Respiratory, heart failure, TB and Allergy.
Her background is in respiratory nursing in both community and secondary care-up to ward manager in Medway Hospital until 2010 when she moved into the community to set up a respiratory service in Bexley. Since then she has lead respiratory services and improved care for respiratory patients.
She is a Queens nurse and also co-chair of the London clinical oxygen network. She is the ARNS lead for ILD and on the respiratory disease subcommittee and the conference committee for PCRS.
Debbie is passionate about respiratory care and aims to improve services and support better care.
Emma Rickards
Acute Care Lead
Emma is a Respiratory Nurse Consultant who works for Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Knowsley Community Respiratory Service and she is passionate about reducing health inequalities in respiratory care.
Emma qualified as a nurse with a Bsc (Hons) in Nursing studies then soon after completed her Msc in Professional Practice with a pathway of difficult asthma. As a keen researcher/ practitioner Emma is a PhD student studying End of Life Care for patients with COPD in ED and as part of her studies has undertaken her Mphil, advanced respiratory nurse practitioner, NMP. Internship at UCLAN for CLAHRC.
Emma started her career working at the Northwest Lung Centre working in acute respiratory care. Emma has a passion for research were and she was fortunate enough to gain a post at the Clinical Trial Service Unit in Oxford. In 2007, she moved back to the North West Lung Centre, but this time worked in respiratory research at the Medicines Evaluation Unit.
In 2008 she was joined the respiratory team at Whiston Hospital providing acute in reach care. The integration of services led Emma to work across both the community and hospital setting where she later became to Oxygen Lead for Knowsley and Liverpool Heart & Chest as well as the Early Supported Discharge clinical Matron. During this time Emma has gained numerous qualifications in advanced respiratory care, COPD, Spirometry, Oxygen, diabetes, asthma, research and various management and leadership qualifications. She also has a variety of publications and abstracts surrounding different elements of respiratory care.
Emma is the Respiratory Nurse Acute Care Lead for ARNS and is on the British Thoracic Advisory panel.
In addition, she received Florence Nightingale research scholarship 2017/2018 and again 2018/2019.
Kerry Mills
COPD Lead
Kerry qualified in nursing in 1991 in Hereford. During this time, the focus always seemed to be on respiratory and started her education with the “Hospital Course for Respiratory Nurses” in 1996 with the “Asthma Training Centre” and proceeded on to a very innovative role as a Respiratory Nurse Specialist in 1997 in the acute trust in Hereford. She worked with a small respiratory team, but the services soon developed, and Kerry was instrumental in setting up and delivering numerous services, to include Pulmonary rehabilitation, Home Oxygen service, Allergy and immunotherapy and Interstitial lung Disease during her seventeen years in this position. During this time, she studied her Msc in Advance Practice and became a Non-Medical Prescriber in 2005. Education and teaching has also been a strong component of the nurse specialist role and Kerry continues to deliver training for “Education for Health” in respiratory.
Kerry was involved in the transition of oxygen services in 2006, which included working with the Department of Health, Home Oxygen Order Form (HOOF/HOCF) advisory panel and the Strategic Health Authority in the procurement of oxygen services for her region.
In addition to this Kerry has been a committee member for ARNS and is really excited for the opportunity to be invited back to be COPD lead.
In 2014, Kerry decided to take her career to primary care as an Advanced Nurse Practitioner in the Urgent Care component of primary care. This further enhanced her generalist skills and a clear understanding from a primary care perspective. She now feels very honored to have the opportunity to focus fully on respiratory care in a new surgery collaboration called “Hereford Medical Group”, which delivers care for 48,000 patients in Hereford City.
Kerry is Primary Care Network lead for respiratory and involved with Herefordshire & Worcestershire CCG, in the delivery of medicines optomisation with reference to COPD and Asthma guidance and prescribing, and on the Expert & Advisory Group for West Midlands.
The focus throughout her career has been the desire to deliver patient centered care for respiratory patients and is working in collaboration with her colleagues at “Wye Valley Trust” and community services to encourage and deliver multi-disciplinary working called the Empower Plus project.
Sue Frost
Paediatric Lead
Lead Respiratory Nurse Specialist Birmingham Children’s Hospital
Sue is lead Respiratory Nurse at Birmingham Children’s hospital. Sue qualified as an RGN in 1989 and then as an RSCN in 1992. She has worked as a Paediatric Respiratory Nurse Specialist for 26 years both at secondary care and tertiary settings.
Sue is the lead nurse for the severe asthma service at Birmingham Children’s Hospital which covers the West Midlands area and alongside this she has also helped develop and now supports her team covering NIV, Bronchiectasis, home oxygen and in patent sleep service.
Sue has worked and being part of the both BTS and NICE asthma guideline committees as well as been an active member of the National Paediatric Respiratory and Allergy Group for many years. This culminated in her becoming chairperson from 2013 – 2016 and now the NPRANG’s educational subcommittee. Sue also plays an active part on the Severe Asthma National Network.
During Sue’s nursing career, she has strengthened her clinical skills by successfully completing many practical and academic courses. Enabling her to not only expand her own professional role but support and lead other junior, less experienced paediatric nurses within the West Midlands. Sue hopes to develop this further by completing a level 5 coaching course in 2022.
Our Team
Executive Committee
Diagnosis & Therapy
Sub Committee
Research and Education
Sub Committee