Karen Grimshaw

Qualifications 

BSc Nursing Studies, MSc Healthcare, PG Cert Infection Control, PG Dip Education, Full Member of Expert Witness Institute (MEWI)

Specialisms 

• Elderly Care and dementia, including in acute hospitals, community hospitals and care homes

Introduction 

I qualified as a Registered Nurse in 1985 and since then I have gained a wide range of clinical experience and expertise within a number of areas of adult nursing, in a range of clinical settings.  These include: elderly and dementia care, frailty services, falls prevention, long-term condition management, end of life care; pressure ulcer prevention, manual handling, mental capacity assessment and decisions and safeguarding adults at risk. 

During my career, I have been involved in dealing with NHS complaints and litigation and have undertaken investigations, prepared reports for regulatory bodies and presented reports at Coroners’ Inquests. In my senior nursing roles, I have provided clinical expertise to and chaired professional practice panels, both in hospital, the community and also within university organisations.

I have developed a range of leadership skills through undertaking clinical leadership roles at different levels. I have led ward and hospital teams, community teams and worked at board level in executive and non-executive roles. My executive director roles have all been in clinical leadership and involved me working regularly and frequently in a clinical capacity, in order to bring the nursing and patient experience perspectives to executive and board decision making.

Since retiring from full-time NHS roles, I am working as a Registered Nurse regularly on community hospital wards, a local hospice and sometimes in care homes, through a nursing agency. The majority of patients in these clinical settings are elderly and frail, with needs for complex care and discharge planning or end-of-life care.
 
In addition to this clinical work, I am a co-director of a nursing consultancy business, which provides bespoke professional support to nursing and healthcare teams. This ranges from clinical supervision to individuals, to large scale teaching in organisations and assurance, governance and professional development in the care and services for older people and those with dementia.

In recent years, I have also been involved with the National Centre for Post-Qualifying Social Work & Professional Practice at Bournemouth University, working with research and publications on the use of the mental capacity act in clinical practice; as part of this work,  I was involved in the production of the national the Mental Capacity Tool Kit.  
 
In my work as an expert witness, I accept instructions from both claimant and defendant solicitors and insurers. I have provided expert opinion on a wide range of cases, including those involving falls in hospitals and other care settings, pressure ulcer development and the complex care of older people with frailty or dementia. I have undergone formal training in the medico-legal processes and am fully aware of my responsibilities under Civil Procedure Rules (CPR) pertaining to expert witnesses.