Sonia Greenwood

I’ve been the Lead Nurse for Asthma at Derby since 2013, after completing a four-year respiratory research post at Nottingham City Hospital. I’d been a practice nurse for the majority of my career before that, so already had a background in asthma.

Since I arrived at Derby, I’ve spent a lot of time building up the asthma service, working with Dr Deepak Subramanian to develop a service which we feel is right for our patients. We now have nurse led asthma clinics as well as a dedicated consultant asthma clinic for patients referred by their GP. We also run a dedicated ward discharge clinic, which acts as a one-stop shop for patients within two weeks of their discharge. Patients are then equipped with the necessary management plans and education to help them avoid exacerbations in the future, and these have worked really well.

I also support patients who are on very specialised treatment, and work with Birmingham Heartlands Hospital as part of their dedicated regional multi-disciplinary team.

I carry out ward reviews, and I am often called to patients who are acutely unwell, staying with them until they are more stable to make sure they receive the right treatment and support.

There are very few chronic illnesses where you can do something which can give someone their life back, but correct asthma treatment can do that for some patients. It’s such a privilege to be in that position. I love my job.