Family tragedy inspired Hartlepool nurse’s lengthy career at the NHS

Sharon Airey signed up as a student nurse in 1985 at the age of just 20 after witnessing her uncle’s mental health struggles as she was growing up.

Since then she has played a key role in shaping services across Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust in a career spanning almost four decades.

“My uncle was a very gentle soul, but his life was hard. He had an undiagnosed psychosis which was never treated. I felt so sorry for him,” Sharon said.

Sharon started at Winterton Hospital, near Sedgefield, where she trained for three years.

After qualifying as a registered mental health nurse, she stayed at Winterton for a further three years, caring for older people with dementia.

“It was hugely physically demanding,” she said. “There were no lifts or hoists, you did all the lifting yourself. I must have done 10,000 steps in just the first hour of each shift.”

She moved to a new role in Slough in the 1980s and then took a part-time job at The Friarage in Northallerton.

She served as a staff nurse for 10 years and became one of the first people to work in a mental health liaison team in 2005. Within a decade, she was managing it – and still is.

Her latest project involves working with people in care homes to avoid admission to acute wards or mental health beds.

Sharon, who plans to retire at the age of 60, said: “I’m proud to work in the NHS. It is good to know my work has helped support people.”