In 1982 I qualified as a Registered Nurse, my career as a nurse started at Sue Ryder in Nettlebed, caring for patients with cancer. After taking 8 years off to start a family of 3 boys, I continued my career in nursing as a Theatre Nurse. I loved theatre nursing and this period spanned 20 years until my retirement in 2012. Having spent my life caring for people’s health and wellbeing, I wanted to find a way to continue to do this. Whilst I was nursing, I enrolled on a course to train as an Acupuncturist with the British Medical Association. I found this approach to health fascinating and decided to increase my knowledge by taking a degree course in Integrated Chinese Medicine, I qualified in 2011.

Chinese Medicine and acupuncture is a wonderful approach to health as it focuses not only on treatment of illness but also the prevention of ill health and maintenance of good health and well being.

My years of experience as a nurse provides understanding of the complex nature of disease, illness and injury from a Western perspective. This combines with my degree training in Chinese medicine creating the perfect opportunity to get people on the road to better health, happiness and wellbeing. My personal experience of life as a wife and mother to 3 sons and 5 grandchildren mean that I have great understanding and empathy for the highs and lows that go with family life, and is another aspect that helps me to treat the people that come to me.

In 2014 I returned to the Royal Berkshire Hospital as Lead Complementary Therapist. My colleague and I set up a charity, ‘My Cancer My Choices’ this runs as a clinic within the Cancer Unit and provides complementary therapies to patients undergoing treatments such as Chemotherapy and radiotherapy. The therapies, which include Acupuncture, Reflexology, Massage, Yoga, Mindfulness help patients with the side effects of treatment, which can be physical, mental and spiritual. The volunteers that work with the charity provide treatment and support to the patients and their families and have made the charity an amazing success story.

I devoted my time to the charity and then took a sabbatical which I have thoroughly enjoyed, but I now want to return to my own Acupuncture practice so I have been delighted to meet Gemma Fisher at Formula Health. I have found that Gemma follows the ethos that I value so highly which is to help people gain good health and understand how to maintain their own health and wellbeing. I am pleased to be able to join Gemma’s team at Formula Health and hope you will join us on the road to health.

Listen to Liz’s heart-warming radio interview to hear more about her amazing story: https://bit.ly/2A1597e