60 Seconds With… Jenny Clarke

We caught up with Jenny Clarke who together with her daughter, the actor Emilia Clarke, set up the brain injury rehabilitation charity SameYou. Jenny will be speaking at Nursing Live on Saturday November 11th

What will you be talking about at Nursing Live?

I will be speaking about an incredibly important topic, the role of the patient voice in healthcare. I will be discussing it from a mother’s perspective, and outlining how nursing staff are key to trauma recovery.

In 2011, my daughter, the actor Emilia Clarke, survived the first of two life-threatening brain haemorrhages while working on the Game of Thrones television series. It was during this time, with Emilia undergoing emergency surgery, that as a family we saw first-hand the irreplaceable role of the nurse and how their care helped Emilia to make a full recovery.

Why do you think it's important?

When Emilia and I were discussing launching our charity, SameYou for brain injury recovery, she confirmed that the single most important part of her own experience in acute care, and on her discharge from The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, was the nurse who cared for her.

We know that nursing staff are vital to the future of rehabilitation, to listen to patients, to help them access what they need and help further amplify their voices. We are delighted to be included in this debate to also raise awareness of the need for more support to help recovery.

From your perspective, what are the key challenges we face with this issue?

When we were launching SameYou, our own research in the USA and UK found that nurses are not enabled to play as big a part as they could helping patients and their families come to terms with their new lives after surviving trauma. We also found it difficult to understand why most multidisciplinary teams we met didn’t include nurses.

When we launched SameYou in 2019, and Emilia told her story to The New Yorker, thousands of survivors reached out to us - revealing a huge, unmet need for rehab, leading to significant mental health issues. That then became a priorty for SameYou.

If we can overcome this challenge, what are the potential benefits?

The benefits are limitless. By listening to patients and helping them access the support they need, it will mean that more survivors are able to live well.

Empathy from the nursing staff will further help to pinpoint those essential needs, meaning fewer visits to hospital, lower costs for the NHS, and less pressure on the nursing workforce.

What can the healthcare sector and policymakers do to help get us there?

Advocacy is essential, making voices heard to inform policymakers and the wider healthcare sector to make important changes.

SameYou is a member of the World Health Organisation’s World Rehabilitation Alliance. We believe, as part of the alliance, that rehab should be available for all and should be integrated into all levels of healthcare. The WHO outlines that with ageing populations and an increase in numbers of people living with chronic disease, that it’s a priority.

It’s only by working together with a joined-up approach that we can achieve these aims around the world.

Is there anything else you'll be looking to share with the Nursing Live audience?

I’ll be explaining how the outpouring from survivors after Emilia told her story led to SameYou working with the RCN Foundation, and the University of Edinburgh, to create a postgraduate certificate programme for rehabilitation. It focuses on a holistic approach to rehab, including mental and physical recovery and research. This allows nursing staff to have a deeper understanding of this specialist area.

I’ll also be highlighting how every 90 seconds someone will attend hospital with a brain injury, and how the ability to offer support can have a huge impact on a survivor’s quality of life.

Jenny Clarke will be taking part in Nursing Live’s The Power of Stories panel on Saturday November 11th. For more details of that session, and the 100+ additional talks, presentations and workshops at Nursing Live visit our searchable programme guide.

You can also find out more about Jenny and Emilia’s charity, Same You, here