Shelagh O'riordan

Dr. Shelagh O'Riordan has been appointed to the role of Professional Advisor to the Discharge and Community Services team at NHS England and NHS Improvement. She is currently a consultant Community Geriatrician in Kent Community NHS Foundation Trust and Clinical Director for Frailty in East Kent. She was a consultant geriatrician in East Kent Hospitals NHS University Trust for fourteen years before moving into the community. Since 2019 she has been the chair of the Community Geriatrics Special Interest Group at the British Geriatrics Society.

During the pandemic she developed a ‘hospital at home service, working with the urgent community response teams to allow real alternatives to hospital admission for people at home and in care homes. She will be supporting other areas to develop similar services as well as linking this with locality-based anticipatory care teams. Her knowledge and leadership will support NHSE’s work building on the commitments in the NHS Long Term Plan to support older people to stay well and live independently as long as possible and to provide care closer to home, reducing avoidable hospital admission.