Meet Your Hosts
Dr Allyson McDougall
Dr Allyson McDougall is a Clinical Psychologist in the Learning Disabilities Service in NHS Ayrshire and Arran, working for many years in the Community Learning Disability Team to support the psychological wellbeing of people with learning disabilities. Allyson’s other role is Principal Educator in the Psychology directorate at NHS Education for Scotland (NES), where she works closely with multi-professional colleagues within the NES Learning Disability Team to develop and deliver education and training across the workforce.
Dr Doug McConachie
Dr Doug McConachie is a clinical psychologist with the Learning Disabilities Service at NHS Lothian. He has extensive experience working with young people and families to support the mental well-being of individuals with learning disabilities. In addition to his clinical work, Doug is a Principal Educator at NHS Education for Scotland. In this role, he collaborates with a team of multi-disciplinary professionals to develop and provide training and educational resources for those working with learning disabilities and neurodiversity. His goal, along with his team, is to enhance the skills and knowledge of the workforce, ultimately benefiting the individuals they support.
“I split my working week between NHS Education for Scotland’s Learning Disability, Autism, and Neurodiversity workstreams and my role as a clinical psychologist with adults with learning disabilities in NHS Lothian. I love the variety in my work, from direct clinical practice to collaborating with wider support systems to improve quality of life and tackle inequalities faced by people with learning disabilities. I am also passionate about teaching and training, and I enjoy finding creative ways to develop learning resources that are both meaningful and engaging.”
Cat Jamieson
I’m a Learning Disabilities nurse, Epilepsy Nurse and Queen’s Nurse and share my time between working with people who have profound learning disabilities and complex health needs and their families and carers at the charity Promoting a More Inclusive Society (PAMIS) as Director of Digital and Health, and at NHS Education for Scotland (NES) as a Senior Educator on the Learning Disabilities workstream.
I am a carer and have considerable experience working with people with profound learning disabilities and their family carers across diverse settings. I particularly value how the interchange between the experience and expertise of people with lived experience and the professional expertise of the workforce comes together to shape successful collaboration and co-production. This interest led me to undertake postgraduate qualifications in Complex Communication, Multisensory Storytelling, and Augmentative and Alternative Communication to help me to support creative and inclusive approaches to collaboration and quality improvement.
I am proud to be one of eight Queen’s Nurses involved in the development of an award-winning resource to support people with learning disabilities within the Justice Service. The animation “Think Could” is now used as part of training within justice services throughout Scotland.
Claire Wakefield
I have been practicing as an Occupational Therapist in the field of Child and Adolescent Mental Health for over 13 years, 12 of these as an Advanced Practitioner in the Intellectual Disability Team and more recently as a Team Lead Occupational Therapist in CAMHS East lothian.
Additionally, for the last 2 years I have been a Senior Educator in NES within the Learning Disabilities team. This role involves developing and delivering training and education around key topics, relevant to the workforce. My passion has always been to support young people with learning disabilities to lead a meaningful and fulfilling life, tapping into their unique characteristics and motivation. When we truly connect and adopt a strength-based approach, people with a learning disability are valued and society can transform. This perspective underpins all the work I do.