NHS Forth Valley

EC4H Lead Tutor

Susie Porteous trained as a clinical communication tutor with Dr Kirsty Boyd and Dr Belinda Hacking in 2010.  She is taking the lead in developing advanced clinical communication training in Forth Valley which hosts a network of trained EC4H tutors. Susie is Macmillan Consultant Clinical Psychologist/Head of Clinical Health Psychology in NHS Forth Valley. BPS membership number 073888, HCPC registered

EC4H Tutor

Melanie is a consultant physician in respiratory and general medicine in FVRH and clinical lead. She trained as a clinical communication tutor with Kirsty Boyd and Belinda Hacking in 2014. Melanie has a wide range of interests in clinical medicine (lung cancer, COPD, pulmonary fibrosis, infection and palliative care) and research. GMC 4398169

EC4H Tutor

Dr Gillian Foster is a consultant in palliative medicine at Strathcarron Hospice.  She attended a clinical communication course in 2000 and since then has facilitated post-graduate communication training.  She completed her advanced tutor training with EC4H in 2012.  She also holds a post-graduate certificate in medical education.

EC4H Tutor

Till Kroeber is a Palliative Care Consultant and works at Forth Valley Royal Hospital in Larbert and at Strathcarron Hospice in Denny. He completed his EC4H facilitator training in 2012. In the past he participated in the communication course devised by Lesly Fallowfield for England and in the Marie-Curie Cognitive Behavioural Therapy training

Bridget McCalister trained as a clinical communication tutor with Dr Kirsty Boyd and Dr Belinda Hacking in 2014. She has worked as a GP in Bonnybridge for 20 years

Senior Nurse Tutor

In her post as Consultant Nurse in Cancer & Palliative Care Sandra works with many teams across all care settings providing leadership on initiatives in cancer, palliative and end of life care with a focus on person-centred care. She has undertaken training at Strathcarron Hospice in 2004 on how to teach communication skills. In 2009, She attended the three day Advanced Communication Skills Programme, based on the Maguire model in Manchester recommended by the DOH for all nursing and medical staff caring for cancer patients and also completed the Teach the Teachers Course at that time. She became a trainer for the delivery of SAGE and THYME in 2010, leading on that programme locally. To become a tutor on the EC4H programme, she completed the Clinical Communication training in Edinburgh in 2011