Profile – Caroline Healy

How long in the job? Since April this year.

Career highlight: My work in child protection in
Camden and Islington in London was very rewarding.

Best training ever done: King’s Fund senior
management programme for health care managers: an extraordinary
experience, giving me life-changing insights.

I didn’t get where I am today by: Being a
shrinking violet. I have enormous drive and energy. This has led to
a varied and unusual career that I find very fulfilling.

Me and my career: I loved my work in the
government Sure Start Unit. It was very stimulating and quite
unnerving to be part of education services, having worked in health
for all my career. As a practitioner I had much more contact with
social services, especially for child protection work. Finding
myself in the civil service, particularly the Department for
Education and Skills was quite a culture shock.

It is very informative to see how government policy develops. Civil
servants have excellent knowledge and understanding. Contact with
ministers is always an eye opener.

I am very impressed by ChildLine’s work, not just the helpline but
also outreach work on peer mentoring and teacher training.
ChildLine is the main agency that children choose to contact and is
therefore in a unique position to represent the views of children,
to influence not only policy but practice.

I am a member of the Advisory Council for the Misuse of Drugs, and
a magistrate.

Curriculum vitae
April 2005-now: National director for England, ChildLine.
2000-2005: Health adviser, government Sure Start Unit.
1996-2000: Designated nurse: child protection and health lead for
domestic violence, Camden and Islington Health Authority.
1996-current: Consultant, Health Quality Service.
1994-2000: Senior manager, women’s, young people’s and children’s
services, at two different community trusts in London: Camden and
Islington, then City and Hackney.
1980-1994: Family planning nurse, health visitor, neighbourhood
manager, Islington Health Authority.