Please tell us about yourself
Hello, my name is Sam Thomas and I’m a registered nurse.
I’m a keen reader and observer of human behaviour both in the fiction world, on stage and screen as well as in real life.
I have two children aged 9 and 11 and enjoy exploring food, culture and different places with them and our family and friends. A recent read that I highly recommend is Black Box Thinking by Matthew Syed.
Please tell us about your role at NHS Resolution
I’m an Associate Safety and Learning Lead for the London region and started at the organisation in early December 2021.
My role involves building relationships with member trusts and relevant partners to share the learning from negligence claims and spark a drive for quality improvements to reduce incidents that lead to claims.
Please describe your nursing background
I qualified as a paediatric nurse in 2008 and later as a health visitor. I have gained experience working in emergency departments, surgical wards, and intensive care units across London trusts, private hospitals and in patient’s homes delivering emergency care, complex care and community care.
What inspired you to become a nurse?
I followed my mother into the nursing profession and have a particular interest in emergency care.
I worked for the London Ambulance service as an Emergency Medical Dispatcher and found the variety of calls and responses really interesting. I wanted more hands on involvement and was accepted onto a Paediatric Nursing Diploma which enabled me to continue working at the weekends until I qualified.
Why is it so important to have colleagues working with a clinical background at NHS Resolution?
Having a clinical background gives a unique insight into claims and a real lived experience of what the NHS frontline staff are involved in. My clinical knowledge helps me to be objective, as I’m not only involved with the specialty I’m qualified in but can observe the risk and patient safety elements from a multi-disciplinary lens to make recommendations to improve both the staff experience and the patient journey.
Why do you think your nursing experience brings value to your role at NHS Resolution?
Nursing experience specifically helps me in my role as often nurses spend the most time with patients and relatives meaning I can share my insight to other professionals to help build a whole picture around an incident. As an Associate Safety and Learning Lead, my interaction with legal and claims managers allows me to advocate and share this intelligence to help triangulate data and influence interventions which are fair, realistic and meaningful.
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