Fiona Kirkland

Nurse Consultant

Fiona Kirkland is a Nurse Consultant in Diabetes in south Staffordshire. She trained as a nurse at the Charles Frears School of Nursing in 1980. Fiona became a diabetes specialist nurse in 1997 and a nurse consultant for diabetes in 2004. Her philosophy of care delivery is based around the physical and psychological needs of people with diabetes. A major part of her service delivery is to share knowledge and skills with other health care professionals, leading by example, and she aims to increase confidence in self-management for people with diabetes.

Fiona has led on some key areas of service development – care of the older person in care homes, diabetes service redesign, nurse-led diabetes teams in the community setting, and new approaches to care delivery. Fiona has published widely and has presented at national conferences and international meetings. In March 2010, Fiona gave the Mary Mackinnon lecture at the Diabetes UK Annual Professional Conference entitled ‘The Spirit of Respect’. Fiona is currently a member of the Board of FIT (Forum for Injection Technique) and is also Chair of the National Nurse Consultant Group for Diabetes.

Fiona’s continuing passion remains in clinical practice, whether directly in specialist clinics or indirectly through mentorship influencing care being delivered in general practice. The interesting part is matching the toolbox of pharmaceutical approaches and lifestyle choices the person is prepared to make to the individual clinical picture.