This week’s leadership message comes from Michelle Bennett, Programme Manager with the Long Term Conditions and Personalisation team

Hello, I am Michelle Bennett, and I have been working in the NHS for over 30 years, starting my career as a student nurse at Leeds University in 1993. Over the years, I have worked for NHS trusts, GP practices, charities, including the British Heart Foundation, and more recently, prison healthcare. Before joining the ICB, I was working as a Nursing and Quality Manager for Health in Justice at NHS England.

Since joining the ICB, I have been impressed by the organisation’s focus on inclusivity and staff health and wellbeing. As someone who has a long-term condition and was recently assessed for dyslexia, I appreciate the ICB’s efforts to embrace and invite people with lived experiences to join the team.

Living and working with Myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) and Fibromyalgia for 25 years has been challenging, especially while raising small children and juggling work, childcare, and homelife. The condition varies in degrees of restriction and severity from day to day, making it difficult to manage. In 2020, I transitioned from clinical work to a more strategic role at NHS England, just as we went into lockdown. The transition from travelling to work every day and being part of a team face-to-face and having contact with patients, to working from home was challenging, and I felt like I had lost my identity as a nurse along the way.

Being a nurse is more than just a job to me; it defines me and gives me purpose. Although I struggled academically, I excelled practically. It wasn’t until I started working at NHS England that my difficulties academically became something more than me thinking I was just rubbish at. After discussions with my line manager, I spoke to my GP, who did an assessment for dyslexia, and the results showed high probability of the condition. It was a light bulb moment. Dyslexia is more than just not being able to spell or struggling with reading. It’s about not being able to read aloud because you aren’t processing what you are reading, just reading words with no context. It’s struggling with environmental factors, noise, lights, the pressure to concentrate and absorb whatever it is you are doing, saying, or writing.

Since joining the ICB, I have received a lot of support. My occupational health assessment identified many reasonable adjustments, and my team is aware that while proofreading a document isn’t my strength, I bring clinical expertise and an understanding of the language that’s been used and how it is presented and displayed to our population. I’m passionate about improving how we communicate with our patients and how we can make it better - I believe communication is the key to success.

Outside of work I am restricted due to my ME and Fibromyalgia, as work is a big part of my day and I have to pace myself every day. This is now ‘normal’ for me and my family and friends. I know if I have a social event planned, I need 2-3 days off to recover, and by social event I mean going to the theatre (a matinee, I don’t go out in the evening unless I have done a lot of resting and pacing beforehand and it’s for a special occasion like a wedding) or a Christmas market etc. I hate this about my life as I used to be the life and soul of the party.

However, I have a little campervan called Belinda and love to get away at the weekends with my rescue dog Betsy and go visit some of our beautiful towns and cities. There is no better feeling than sitting somewhere beautiful taking it all in with a good book. I have also recently started to research spirituality and mediumship which is something my grandma was interested in, and I love to read (even with my struggles). Last year I set myself a challenge of reading 10 books throughout the year. I am currently on book 11, and maybe next year I’ll set it at 12.

Life is all about balance and for the first time in a long time I feel I have the balance just right.

Thank you for reading.