Meet the team - Martin House

Martin House Education Team

Our courses are delivered by an experienced, multidisciplinary faculty drawn from Martin House Children’s Hospice.

The team includes consultants in paediatric palliative medicine, clinical nurse specialists and practice educators, all with extensive experience supporting children, young people and families with complex needs.

Our educators bring real‑world insight, compassion and clinical excellence to every course, creating supportive learning environments grounded in best practice.

Mandy Thorpe

Mandy is a paediatric nurse with more than 20 years clinical experience, working in a variety of settings, including oncology, neurology, neonates and general paediatrics. With a PGCE for health care professionals, she has worked in an education role within the NHS and, since 2020, at Martin House.

Mandy has co-authored multiple posters for national and international conferences on the innovative palliative care simulation work pioneered by Martin House, and presented at the Together for Short Lives 2025 conference. She has also developed a ten-session Paediatric Palliative Care module, delivered in collaboration with the hospice’s specialist paediatric palliative care team.

Jen Knell

Jen is a practice educator at Martin House, having joined the organisation in 2022, moving into the educator role in 2023. A paediatric nurse with a background in critical care, she has worked across three paediatric critical care units, including one overseas.

With experience in both critical and paediatric palliative care, Jen supports staff and students through simulation-based and clinical skills training, helping to build confidence and competence in delivering compassionate, child and family-centred care.

Annie Duckitt-Reid

Annie joined Martin House in 2019, working on the clinical team before moving into the education team in 2020. With a background in general paediatrics, cardiology, and high dependency care, she brings varied clinical insight to her educator role. Annie is passionate about paediatric palliative care and believes that empowering staff through developing their skills and knowledge is key to improving paediatric palliative care. She works closely with the internal care team to enhance their confidence and capability, and also contributes to external teaching, including simulation-based education.

Our education team is supported by a faculty of doctors, nurses and healthcare professionals at the hospice, including our three consultants in paediatric palliative care medicine and team of five clinical nurse specialists.