Diane Hargreaves is currently a Programme Delivery Manager for the High Intensity Use Programme at the British Red Cross. Her role is central to the programme’s commitment to deliver high quality person centred support.
Diane’s career’s began in the NHS working as part of the research and development team driving forward pioneering work on sepsis and mortality correlation. Through this work, Diane saw first hand the impact a serious diagnosis and time in intensive care could have on people, and shifted the focus of her career to looking at how she can support people through health crisis’.
She has worked across the statutory and voluntary sector in areas including social care, looked after children, education and mental health, including supporting people who have experienced deep seated trauma, leading to issues such as addiction, neurological disorders and complex psychosocial behavioural modification.
Some of her proudest professional achievements include supporting looked after children to integrate into their new environments and foster carers to adapt to their new roles. Diane now holds a role as a panel advisor for a leading fostering agency. Other achievements included overseeing the design and implementation of specialised programmes to support children at risk of exclusion from education, resulting in a 70% reduction rate in expulsions over a five-year.
While these programmes delivered success, Diane believed that what people needed most was a holistic intervention not tied to one specialism. This is why HIU really appeals to her. It’s a programme of support that is fully person centred and looks to address any of the underlying reasons for why people attend A&E, supporting people to make positive changes in multiple ways that provide greater impact.
She is currently a practice expert in HIU and supports staff members by fostering a coaching approach, which identifies patterns of behaviour, reasons for relapse and areas of deficit. This approach brings greater outcomes on larger scale and ensures high levels of quality practice delivery across all of our services.