Working for 25 years at St Giles Hospice in the Midlands, Denise gained much palliative care experience especially in the community and was pivotal in setting up their Hospice at Home service. However, Lymphoedema care is her real passion and she established one of the first purpose built lymphoedema clinics in the country in 1992.
She has since set up numerous clinics within the NHS, more recently establishing Kendal Lymphology Centre – an independent clinic, providing NHS care for patients suffering for all types of chronic oedema/lymphoedema, including children. She is actively involved with bodies associated with Lymphoedema – the BLS (Chair in 2000/2001), the Lymphoedema Support Network (she is the Nursing advisor and a Trustee of this patient led group), Nurse Consultant for Lipoedema UK and is an active member of The Children’s Lymphoedema Special Interest Group.
She is involved in education and research, has written for publication and has worked internationally – Kenya particularly, training Health Care Professionals’ dealing with breast cancer related lymphoedema. Becoming a Trustee of St Mary’s Hospice will bring her career back full circle and she looks forward to be able to help provide strategic direction for the hospice and to ensure the local community is represented in it’s aim to meet its objectives, whilst remaining true to its core philosophy and values.