Expert Witness Profile
Somerset
Areas Covered: UK
Fiona Stephenson
Fellow, Royal College of Nursing (FRCN)
Registered General Nurse (RGN)
Spinal
Orthopaedics
Tissue Viability
Health and Safety
- Registered Manager (2017)
- Medico-Legal Training (2015)
- Postgraduate Certificate in Wound Healing (Pressure Ulcers) (2012)
- Postgraduate Diploma in Quality Assurance (2001)
- NHS Direct Nurse Telephone Consultation (1999)
- Postgraduate Diploma in Management (1999)
- Postgraduate Certificate in Education (1991)
- ENB 997 Teaching & Assessing in Clinical Practice (1990)
- Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC)
- Royal College of Nursing (Fellow)
- RCN International Reference Group Committee
- Haiti Hospital Appeal NGO
- Team Canada Healing Hands NGO
- Haiti SCI Working Group
- Cap Haitian Health Network
- International Rehabilitation Forum
- HIFA 2015 (Health Information For All)
- Multidisciplinary Association of Spinal Cord Injury Professionals (MASCIP)
- Spinal Advisory Working Group UK (Founding Member)
- International Network of SCI Nurses (Co-Founder)
- Africa SCI Network (Founding Member)
- Middle East and North Africa SCI Network
- WHO Rehabilitation Working Group
- Experience as a Regulation 44 Independent Visitor at Serenity Care Homes Ltd. (2022)
- Experience as a Registered Nurse at Somerset NHS Foundation Trust working on the Mass Vaccination Process. (2021)
- 3 years’ experience as a Registered Manager at Livability Spinal Injury Centre.
- 4 years’ experience as a Nurse Specialist at Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust specialising in spinal cord injury, with an emphasis on pressure injury prevention and staff, patient and family education.
- 1 year experience as a Clinical Nurse Specialist at Winterbourne Hospital specialising in spinal care.
- 7 years' experience as a registered nurse at NHS Direct specialising in Telemedicine.
- 9 years' experience working with preterm and the newborn requiring neonatal intensive care.
Fiona has over 40 years of nursing experience and found her passion in developing spinal cord injury (SCI) nursing care, through volunteer work after the earthquakes in Haiti in 2010 and in Nepal in 2015.
Fiona became a Fellow of the RCN in 2016 and she has been an active member of the International Spinal Cord Society and on its Education, Disaster and Nurse Committees for many years.
She is co-founder of The International Network of SCI Nurses. and volunteers regularly to advise on international healthcare capacity building in SCI care.
Fiona also set up England’s first, and extremely successful, transitional care spinal injury centre linked to the NHS.
She has contributed to many publications and is a core member of the WHO SCI working group.
She was awarded the UK Cavell Nurses Trust’s International Impact Award in 2017 and in 2018 the 'Points of Light' award by the UK Prime Minister for exceptional services to spinal cord injury.
- Nursing Times (2010) - A 30 second catastrophe – working in the Haiti earthquake zone
- Nursing Times (2010) - The simple art of giving and working together – Haitian style
- Nursing Times (2010) - Everyone mucks in together and are all vital cogs in the wheel – Haiti relief effort
- Nursing Times (2010) - Patients settling into a routine – Haiti relief effort
- Nursing Times (2010) - A week like no other
- Nursing Times (2010) - Recharged and back to work
- Nursing Times (2010) - Cholera in Haiti – a nurse’s view
- Nursing Times (2010) - Waiting for Hurricane Tomas
- Nursing Times (2010) - An extraordinary few days in Haiti
- Landry, M. Stephenson, F. Carnie, L. et al. (2010). Spinal cord injury rehabilitation in post-earthquake Haiti: the critical role for non-governmental organizations. Physiotherapy; 96: 4, 267-268.
- Nursing Times (2010) - The tale of Three Friends in Haiti
- Stephenson, F. (2011). Simple and effective wound care in post earthquake Haiti. Journal of Wound Care. Vol 20, NO 1, Pp 5-10
- Stephenson, F. (2012) Transforming care for patients with spinal cord injury in Haiti. Nursing Times. Vol 108 No 18/19, Pp 22-23
- Stephenson, F. (2013) “Spotlight: Spinal Cord Injury in Haiti”, In Cate Buchanan (Editor), Gun Violence, Disability and Recovery, (Surviving Gun Violence Project).
- Spinal Cord Injury in Haiti: A Game of Chance. Spinal News Ireland (2014)
- Nursing Standard (2014): Health Information for All - Haiti
- Sudden Onset Disaster: The Role of the Spinal Cord Injury Peer Counselor following the Nepal Earthquakes (2015). Accepted for publication
- WHO: Rehabilitation Foreign Medical Team Guidelines in Sudden Onset Disasters. In print (2016)
- Contributor to “Responding Internationally To A Disaster: Do’s and Don’ts For Rehabilitation Professionals”. Published 2016.
- Working Internationally. Contributor and reviewer as part my International Reference Group role (2017)
- Development and implementation of the World Health Organization Emergency medical teams: 'Minimum technical standards and recommendations for rehabilitation’ publication (2018)
- Contributor to the AO Foundation “Rehabilitation following a sudden onset disaster” book (2019). Chapter; Spinal cord injury.
- Member of the Development Group for Spinal Cord Injury working on the development of WHO's Package of Interventions for Rehabilitation (2020)
- Member of the Development Group for Spinal Cord Injury working on the development of WHO's Standards/Guidelines for Emergency SCI Team Response (published 2021))
- Member of WHO Working Group: Minimum Standards and Recommendations on Spinal cord injuries in emergencies (published 2025)