It’s been a while since I last posted here. That’s not because things have gone quiet, in fact, it's quite the opposite!
Patient Bridge and I have been busy sharing our story, building relationships across an ever-expanding network of contacts, and, most importantly, turning conversations, ideas and opportunities into tangible plans for the future.
From supporting the next generation of patient advocates to advising industry on European strategy, contributing lived experience to research and speaking more openly about mental health, there’s a lot happening behind the scenes. Here’s a little of what I’ve been working on.
🤝 Collaborating for Impact
At the heart of Patient Bridge is collaboration. Meaningful change rarely happens in isolation, and I’m fortunate to be working alongside organisations and individuals who share a commitment to improving the lives of people living with rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases (RMDs).
Supporting the Next Generation with EULAR PARE
A key part of my work with Patient Bridge is my ongoing consultancy with EULAR PARE. Supporting volunteers - particularly the next generation of leaders within Young PARE - is an opportunity I value enormously.
These are talented, passionate individuals with the potential to shape the future of patient advocacy. Through coaching, mentoring and practical skills development, I want to help them build the confidence, knowledge and leadership skills to turn that potential into action. Fitim from Kosovo (r) is already on the right path with his young colleagues.
The future of patient advocacy depends on creating opportunities for emerging leaders to find their voices, develop their strengths and make their mark. Being able to play a part in that journey is incredibly rewarding.
Bringing AI and Patient Needs Together
Alongside my work with EULAR PARE, I’m advising a pharmaceutical company on its European strategy for introducing an AI-powered tool designed to support women of childbearing age (WOCBA) living with rheumatic diseases through family planning, pregnancy and parenthood.
Developing a useful digital tool is one thing. Ensuring it reaches the right people, meets a genuine, identified need and earns the trust of the communities it is intended to serve is quite another.
Having spent years building relationships across patient organisations, healthcare professionals and the rheumatology community, I can help bridge the gap between innovation and lived experience. It’s an exciting opportunity to help ensure that patient perspectives are considered from the outset, rather than added as an afterthought.
🔬 Partnership with Industry and Research: Putting Patient Experience to Work
Patient expertise is about much more than telling your personal story. It’s about using that experience to challenge assumptions, identify gaps in care and help shape better decisions.
In recent weeks, I’ve agreed to share my lived experience of inflammatory arthritis with a pharmaceutical company, contributing perspectives on current standards of care and the unmet needs that remain for people living with these conditions.
For me, this is what meaningful patient involvement should look like: bringing the realities of life with a long-term condition into conversations that influence research, treatment and care.
Our experiences have value. When they are listened to, understood and acted upon, they can help make healthcare more relevant, responsive and effective.
🌍New Connections at the EFNA 25th Anniversary Conference
On 25 and 26 September, I attended the European Federation of Neurological Associations (EFNA) 25th Anniversary Conference in Dublin.
The conference provided a fantastic opportunity to reconnect with fellow patient advocates and meet professionals working in patient engagement within the pharmaceutical industry.
Although my work is rooted in rheumatology, many of the challenges facing patient communities cross disease boundaries. Building relationships with people working in other areas of healthcare opens up opportunities to share learning, explore new collaborations and bring fresh perspectives into our work.
Every conversation has the potential to lead somewhere meaningful, and the connections made at events like this can benefit both Patient Bridge and the wider patient community long after the conference itself has ended.
🎓 Inspiring the Next Generation of Healthcare Professionals
Rheumatology may not always be the most obvious career choice for medical students and emerging healthcare professionals. Attracting people to the specialty and helping them understand the realities of living with an RMD takes time, effort and imagination.
But it matters.
The healthcare professionals of tomorrow will shape the experiences of patients for decades to come. Helping them understand the person behind the diagnosis — and the importance of listening to patients as partners in their care — is an investment in the future.
I’ve recently been approached about the possibility of lecturing to rheumatology nurse specialists. It’s an opportunity with real potential to bring the patient perspective into professional education and help ensure that lived experience is better understood by those delivering care.
I’m excited to see where these conversations lead. Watch this space!
💚 Mental Health: Finding the Courage to Speak Out
Some of the most important work we do is also the most personal.
I’ve never hidden the profound impact my diagnoses had on my life, or how low I found myself emotionally as I struggled to come to terms with them. Living with chronic illness can affect far more than physical health, and the psychological challenges can be every bit as difficult to navigate.
Recently, I spoke with a friend on her podcast and shared more of my experience than I ever have before.
Opening up like that isn’t easy, but I believe there is real value in being honest about the challenges we face, particularly when those challenges are often hidden from view.
As a young man who has struggled with depression, I feel a responsibility to speak out. Too many people face these experiences feeling isolated, unsure where to turn or believing they have to manage everything alone.
If sharing my story helps even one person feel less alone, seek support sooner or recognise that there is a way forward, then it will have been worth it.
I look forward to sharing the interview when it goes live.
🎤 From Strategy to the Stage: Preparing for EULAR PARE Conference 2026
Next week, I’ll be putting my conference-hosting and facilitation skills to work at the EULAR PARE Conference 2026.
From Tuesday evening through to Thursday, I’ll be welcoming new volunteers and Young PARE delegates and guiding them through a programme designed to help them find their feet, build confidence and explore their future within EULAR and PARE.
The sessions will include introductions and welcomes, strategy development, a practical workshop on public-speaking confidence, and an exploration of the different pathways volunteers can take as they develop their skills and involvement.
For me, this is where several strands of my work come together: facilitation, coaching, leadership development and patient advocacy.
The face-to-face sessions are always the enjoyable part. What people don’t necessarily see are the hours of thinking, planning, preparation and development that go into creating a programme that is engaging, purposeful and genuinely useful to those taking part.
However, when people leave feeling more confident, better connected and excited about what they can contribute, every hour of preparation is worthwhile.
🚀 Looking Ahead: Building Something That Matters
I’m busier than I’ve ever been. I’m working with a broader network of collaborators, exploring new opportunities and having conversations that are increasingly translating into meaningful work.
But the most significant change isn’t simply the volume of work. It’s the feeling that everything is moving in the right direction.
Patient Bridge is growing, and the value of the work I do - bringing together patient experience, strategic thinking and the right networks to create opportunities for change - is increasingly being recognised.
For me personally, this journey is about more than building a consultancy. It’s about bringing together years of experience in patient advocacy, leadership, communications and lived experience to do work that has purpose.
There is still plenty to build, plenty to learn and plenty of conversations to have. But I’ve never felt more content or more convinced that I’m on the right path.
Patient Bridge is about ensuring that patient experience isn’t simply heard, but embedded in the decisions that shape healthcare.
That’s the ambition. And it’s exciting to see it becoming a reality.
More to come!