2023 Head & Neck Cancer Conference Guide Book

Nicola Freeman
BSc (HONS) Radiotherapy & Oncology,
MSc Advanced Clinical Practice
Radiotherapy & Oncology
H&N Consultant Radiographer
DAY 2
Nicola qualified as a therapeutic radiographer in 2003, and progressed up to superintendent
radiographer in 2015 incorporating H&N specialist duties as part of her role. This involved supporting
service users and their families throughout, and beyond their treatment journey providing specialist
advice and care.
Throughout this time, she has acquired knowledge and skills to further her expertise and developed
networking skills with the wider multidisciplinary team to ensure their service users receive the best
possible holistic care appropriate to their individual needs. In 2021 Nicola completed her masters
degree, with her dissertation focussing on prehabillitation for HNCa, following a service user
evaluation about their needs and the service provisions.
Following on from this, Nicola was fortunate to be appointed to H&N consultant radiographer,
and for the past year and a half has been working to reduce the oncologist time, and improve
efficiency of the pathway throughout our service. Nicola is passionate about enabling service
users to optimise their health and well-being pre-, and during treatment, and highly motivated to
facilitate a better quality of life post-treatment.
Alexandra Langstaff
BSc, BNurs, Msc, NMP
Ward Manager for Head and Neck,
Brachytherapy and Molecular Radiation
at The Christie NHS Foundation Trust
DAY 1
Alexandra trained for BNurs Adult Nursing and MSc Specialist Practice Cancer at The University
of Manchester and is current ward manager for Head and Neck, Brachytherapy and Molecular
Radiation at The Christie NHS Foundation Trust. She’s held previous roles within the same unit as a
Registered nurse and Sister.
Alexandra’s symptom control and end of life care interest led to previous role as a Clinical Nurse
Specialist in Supportive and Palliative Care. Attempting to regularly alleviate symptoms for a
variety of disease groups, ongoing issues with patients experiencing severe mucositis as a result of
head and neck radical radiation were noted leading to completion of research project during 2022.
Her clinical innovation research completed on alleviation of radiation induced mucositis for head
and neck patients via use of Photobiomodulation Therapy (PBM). A Green Team Award was
received in January 2023 from the Centre for Sustainable Healthcare. She has a strong passion for
staff mental health and wellbeing and her MSc research project focused on the impact of end of
life care on nurses within the oncology setting. Alexandra also holds the additional role of clinical
supervisor within her current NHS trust.
Samantha Gregory
DAY 2
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Macmillan Speech
and Language Therapist
Samantha graduated in 2007 with a BSc (Hons) degree in Speech and Language Therapy. Since
qualifying she has always had a passion for working with people with Head and Neck Cancer
and their caregivers. She has been the clinical lead for the Head and Neck Cancer Speech and
Language Therapy service at Torbay Hospital in South Devon since 2018.
Samantha’s role is to provide assessment and rehabilitation of communication and / or swallowing
difficulties associated with head and neck cancers and their treatment. She specialises in surgical
voice restoration in laryngectomy rehabilitation and specialist instrumental swallow assessments
including videofluoroscopy and fibreoptic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing (FEES).
Sarah Pearce
Director of Services and Operations,
Fifth Sense
DAY 1
Samantha is honoured to have taken part in a transatlantic collaboration with The Swallows
Head and Neck Cancer Support Group and the head and neck cancer team at the Lowell General
Hospital in Boston, USA. The aim is to twin the two hospital trusts and continue to develop their
overseas partnerships. She is proud to support The Swallows Head and Neck Cancer Support
Group in Torbay and has been recently given the honour of patron for which she is truly grateful
and humbled.
Originally trained as a nurse, Sarah later studied in her spare time to acquire the qualifications
to study full time as an undergraduate Law student, before going on to successfully complete
a master’s degree in law. She then commenced employment within the third sector, including
setting up a citizens advocacy charity in Kent for people with learning disabilities and their families.
Following on from this, Sarah commenced working in various roles for physical and mental health
charities. These were both large and small, established, and new.
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Her roles over the years have included national senior management, advocacy and writing policy
documents for a government minister on advocacy for adults with learning disabilities. She has
worked for Fifth Sense, the smell and taste charity, for over a year and enjoys working in an area
which, prior to joining the organisation, was something of which she had very little experience
except with her late father, when he had mouth cancer and lost his sense of taste.
20 HEAD & NECK CANCER CONFERENCE 2023
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