Our consultants
We have a team of consultants who bring a range of special interests and expertise.
Professor Derek Willis, Medical Director
Professor Willis is medical director of the hospice and has clinical responsibility for the inpatient unit at the Apley site. Professor Willis has an interest in palliative care for adults with neuromuscular conditions and has worked in partnership with Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Hospital to define what this service should look like locally and nationally. He is head of the education department at the hospice and has an interest in medical ethics and philosophy. He has a higher degree in medical ethics and runs national conferences in the subject. Professor Willis represents the medical team at Board and Senior Management level: contributing to strategic decision-making and represents the hospice at regional and national medical forums.
Dr Claire Stockdale
Dr Stockdale is our lead on the specialist palliative care provision for people with Motor Neurone Disease (MND) locally and has helped develop and improve our service through a dedicated clinic and community support. Previously she provided specialist palliative care support for the community of North Powys and now supports people living in Telford & Wrekin. Dr Stockdale has developed and established a neuro-palliative multidisciplinary meeting (MDT) with her neurology colleagues which supports the earlier identification of people with complex needs and advanced neurodegenerative conditions, which in turn improves earlier access to specialist palliative care for patients and their families. She is also an Educational Supervisor for Palliative Medicine trainees, a Medical Appraiser and a Medical Examiner at SaTH.
Dr Alice O’Connor
Dr O’Connor has worked at Severn Hospice since 2009 and is our Community Consultant for Shropshire. She works closely with GPs, District Nurses, our Outreach Nursing team and other specialist teams, to deliver care through the Shrewsbury Hospice clinic or directly visiting people at home. She has a special interest in respiratory disease, including interstitial lung disease and COPD; she runs joint clinics with the respiratory teams locally. Dr O’Connor has fostered links with our local GP training scheme and is responsible for supervising the trainee GPs who work with us. She also works for Keele University Medical School and enjoys teaching, both in undergraduate and postgraduate settings.
Dr Caroline Hart
Dr Caroline Hart is our consultant based in North Powys working with the local GPs and other healthcare professionals.
As part of her role, she works closely with the Powys-based CNS team offering advice, support, and clinical review where and when needed, whether in the patient’s home, in our clinic in Newtown or in one of the community hospitals.
Having first started at Severn Hospice in 2012, Dr Hart completed her consultant training across the West Midlands and North Wales and she has now returned to the Hospice as a consultant.
Dr Hart is currently leading the role out of the CARiAD project in North Powys, where carers are trained to administer subcutaneous medication to patients in the last weeks and days of life, allowing more patients to spend their final days in the comfort of their own homes.
