Dr Deborah Harding

About

My comprehensive experience in health and social care practice, management and leadership across a range of settings underpins my teaching, learning and research. 

A speech and language therapist by profession, I remain both HCPC registered and an RCSLT member.  Clinically, I specialised in disorders of language and non-language cognition and have an MSc in Cognitive Neuropsychology. From 2017 - 2019, I held a part-time role as consultant and professional lead for speech and language therapy at St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

I have multi-professional management and leadership experience as an NHS in-patient services manager, service development manager and associate director and have held not-for-profit sector board positions.  Through my leadership roles I became interested in developing people and in quality improvement, including the use of action learning, the application of personal construct psychology and supervision practices. My PhD research explored supervision for the allied health professions.

Working in higher education since 2008, I have developed and led multi-professional post-registration education with a focus on policy, service improvement, quality and innovation.  I led the curriculum development for the multi-professional MSc Advanced Clinical Practice and Integrated Degree Apprenticeship.  I now lead the Advancing Clinical Education and Supervision module in that MSc programme and deliver NHS commissioned supervision and education projects and programmes. I have experience supervising master's level student research.  

In 2015, my curriculum development work in quality improvement received a Health Innovation Network/ Health Education South London Innovation Grant.   

I have delivered commissioned service evaluations including work for Macmillan Cancer Support and for NHS England/ Improvement, including work with the Chief Allied Health Professions' Officer's team on the development of AHP leadership across the NHS in England.  I led work with Health Education England to develop workplace supervision guidance for multi-professional advanced level practitioners.