The team

Andy Lee – Chair

Qualified as a Nurse in 2007 I began my training to become a Respiratory ACP in Nottingham in 2015. I am currently the specialty lead ACP in Nottingham with a team of 8 qualified and 3 trainee ACPs. I am passionate about service development, finding new and innovative ways in which ACPs can provide benefits to respiratory patients.  I am hopeful that the Respiratory ACP Network will grow, creating a place for all professionals working at advanced level in Respiratory to come together and form a supportive community.

Padmavathi Parthasarathy- Vice chair

I am an Advanced Clinical Practitioner (ACP) working in Respiratory Medicine specialising in acute respiratory medicine at University Hospital Leicester. I have been working in this role since 2016. I also have 20-years of experience in nursing including critical care and research. My qualifications include MSc in Advanced Clinical Practice, PG Diploma in Critical Care & PG diploma in Respiratory Medicine.

I am passionate about patient centred respiratory care, advanced clinical practice in respiratory medicine, education, and workforce development/transformation. My main interests are acute respiratory medicine and pleural disease. Nationally I am involved in BTS standards of care committee (SOCC) and National respiratory ACP curriculum development. 

Kathryn Thomas – Secretary

I qualified as a nurse in 2008 and worked in critical care in London before moving to the midlands and embarking on my advancing clinical practice journey. I love being in a role that can have such a direct impact on patient experience. After rotating around medical specialties I found that respiratory was where my passion lies as I enjoy the variety the specialty provides. I look forward to meeting like-minded people and being inspired by the practice of others throughout the country through the network.

Emma Toplis – Social media

After initially commencing my career as a nurse within care of the elderly I decided to embark on a new challenge as a trainee advanced clinical practitioner in 2015. During my training I rotated through many different medical specialities developing a broad knowledge base and a wide range of transferrable skills. I found Respiratory to be my passion and have started developing my role within this speciality. I have developed a sub specialist interest in interstitial lung disease and am heavily involved in quality improvement within the respiratory department as a core member of our respiratory quality improvement faculty InQuIRe. The respiratory ACP network will be an excellent place for respiratory ACPs to share best practice, and explore how we can develop the role of an advanced clinical practitioner within respiratory.

Kirsty Laing

I qualified as a nurse in 2004 where I began my journey in medical admissions and coronary care. I then progressed to be one of the first critical care outreach nurses within the trust. It was here I embarked on the MSc in Advancing Practice. This fuelled my thirst and passion to ensure patients received care and interventions in a timely manner and I wanted to be able provide more for my patients. It was towards the end of this course, I secured my first ACP post in 2012. I have been fortunate to gain a breadth experience in different specialities such as acute medicine, gastroenterology, and frailty before indulging in my passion for respiratory with a keen interest in pleural disease and pleural procedures. This network is quickly becoming a fantastic resource to meet equally or even more motivated inspiring individuals and share experiences, clinical practice and challenges.

Rebecca Chamoto

Since qualifying as a staff nurse, I have worked primarily in the medical speciality with respiratory and critical care being of interest to me. Over the years I have been fortunate to gain diverse experiences in critical care, medicine, neurology, and respiratory equipping me with a multitude of transferable skills and developing a comprehensive knowledge base, depth and understanding which led me to the path of exploring the role of an Advanced clinical practitioner (ACP) within Respiratory which is where my passion lies. The ACP role incorporated both clinical and leadership skills, both of which I am very passionate about and has a positive impact on patient care.  This network is fast evolving and provides an opportunity for the Respiratory community to network with like-minded practitioners across the nation and share good clinical practice, navigate, and provide support through challenging times and share and develop successes.

Rebecca Stacey – Webmaster

I have worked as a Respiratory physiotherapist since 2002 and found myself moving towards medical management after becoming an independent non-medical prescriber in 2015. I have specialist interests in Asthma, COPD, Breathing Pattern Disorder and Inducible Laryngeal Obstruction as well as experience research and development. I wished to channel and develop my experience in a different direction whilst maintaining clinical contact with patients. I applied for a trainee Respiratory ACP post at Wythenshawe Hospital as the first AHP in the team. Both the course and the post has been an amazing and unique opportunity for development and I am currently becoming an expert in managing ambulatory PE’s and long-covid.

Donna Peat – Network committee

I qualified as a nurse in 2003. Since then, I have worked across several specialities in acute medicine. I went on to work within critical care and critical care outreach during this time I completed a PGCE delivering teaching in acute illness management and clinical skills.  After a period working within the trust leadership team as Matron I decided to return to clinical work, taking a post as a trainee ACP in Acute Medicine in 2020. On completion of my MSc I joined our Respiratory Team, as the first qualified ACP in Respiratory care at Lancashire teaching hospitals. At present I work as the Respiratory ACP and virtual ward lead.

I have keen interest in improving the management of the acutely unwell patient and exploring ways in which patient care can be transformed utilising quality improvement methodology to streamline pathways. Nationally I am involved in the British Thoracic Society quality improvement committee.

The Respiratory ACP network is a fantastic way to network with out Respiratory colleagues, share best practice and work together to build upon the exciting role of advanced clinical practice within Respiratory.

Kate Parrott – Network committee

I am a Consultant ACP in Respiratory at United Lincolnshire NHS Trust since June 2023. Prior to this I was a Pleural ACP at Lincoln County Hospital and I am a Physiotherapist by background.

I am the professional lead for the Respiratory and Pleural ACPs and the Clinical Nurse Specialist teams in Respiratory. Clinically, I with the Pleural ACP team and have plans to set up an outpatient lung nodule service and become more involved in lung cancer pathways.

In addition to my clinical roles I have been a lecturer/practitioner for a range of undergraduate and postgraduate university courses with Sheffield Hallam University and the University of Lincoln. I have also completed a range of research projects including a systematic review of exercise interventions in non-copd respiratory populations and have been a Principal Investigator on an international respiratory infections study called the MERMAIDS-ARI trial.

Scott Caul – Network committee

I am the first Trainee Advanced Clinical Practitioner in Respiratory at York and I am midway through my MSc in Advanced Practice. Since graduating as a physiotherapist in 2010, my passion for Respiratory Medicine has grown immensely. The catalyst for me was providing high quality respiratory treatment and rehabilitation in the Intensive Therapy Unit and then joining the Acute NIV Team as the first physiotherapist. I love teaching and I am driven by the four pillars of advanced clinical practice, AHP’s and thrive on paving the way for the development of future Respiratory ACP’s. Having recently joined the network I’m already thankful for the support I’ve had and hope to reciprocate that support to new trainees.