Jon Bowes – Advanced Clinical Practitioner (ACP)
Jon works as one of the Advanced Clinical Practitioners for Long Term Conditions, formerly known as a Community Matron in the Woodspring locality. He mainly works with complex patients on the District Nursing caseload or those referred to him by their GP. Jon has autonomy over his schedule, allowing him to dedicate the necessary time to assess, plan, and treat vulnerable patients effectively.
After qualifying as an Adult Nurse in 2009, Jon gained a BSc in Specialist Practice. In 2018, he became a non-medical prescriber and in 2021 was awarded the title of Queen’s Nurse.
Before his nursing career, Jon spent over 20 years as a Branch Manager and Director in the Estate Agency and Financial Services sector, but sought a more meaningful path for his skills.
“Community Nursing appeared to be the best fit, allowing me to continue visiting people in their own homes but with a more worthwhile goal.”
Having previously worked in the falls team, Jon conducted training sessions on the significance of falls prevention and effective measures to prevent them, a passion he carries into his current role.
“I was also lucky enough to work alongside a geriatrician whilst with the Frailty Team and developed an interest in frailty. Following this, a GP and I, with an interest in Frailty, set up monthly Frailty meetings focusing on improving outcomes for the frail and elderly in our community.”
Jon is dedicated to community nursing and believes that patients should have the choice of receiving care in their homes if it is safe. His work in Frailty has equipped him to identify issues, while his prescribing knowledge boosts his confidence in deprescribing medication.
Managing polypharmacy and its adverse effects is a significant challenge within the elderly frail community. He also handles PSDs for nurses, saving them time in reaching out to GPs. Much of his time is spent addressing safeguarding matters, which require substantial collaboration with social workers, GPs, care agencies, and family members.
Jon appreciates the variety his role offers and finds it rewarding to make a difference in people’s lives by providing effective solutions to their challenges.
He collaborates closely with his ACP colleagues and often discusses complex situations that arise during his responsibilities as the Point of Escalation for the day.
With a keen interest in diabetes, he also assists the District Nursing Team with their daily insulin visits.
“I enjoy working for Sirona because of the breadth of knowledge that is available to me. I am fortunate enough to have great support from my ACP colleagues as well as access to our specialist services.”
Shonna Spreadbury, Digital Clinical Systems Lead
Shonna stands out as the sole nurse holding a digital position at Sirona, where her extensive nursing experience ensures that both new and existing systems serve our frontline staff effectively.
After qualifying as an Adult Nurse, Shonna worked in medicine and orthopaedics before becoming a Community Staff Nurse in 2002. Two years later, she pursued a specialist practitioner degree.
After spending a decade as a Community Nurse, Shonna transitioned to a digital secondment post. She quickly recognised how invaluable her nursing background was, providing unique insights into how different technologies and systems could support frontline staff.
Shonna understood that her nursing experience set her apart, allowing her to be a liaison between clinicians and IT.
“I help digital teams understand how clinicians work and what digital solutions can help them best, and in turn support clinicians to understand how different digital technologies can work for them. The ultimate aim would be to have clinicians from a variety of different roles working within Sirona’s digital team to give us more understanding of the technological requirements for all our services.”
In her role as Digital Clinical Systems Lead, Shonna advocates for all clinicians and administrative staff by maintaining and optimising clinical systems, identifying digital solutions to challenges, and sharing information and best practices on organisational, regional, and national levels.
The Digital Clinical Systems Team consists of 12 members who support the entire organisation. Half of their time is dedicated to routine operations, which include assisting the IT service desk with system issues like access, errors, diary or build, change requests, testing, and upgrades.
The remaining time focuses on optimising systems and engaging in project work. Viewing ongoing initiatives by checking the Digital Clinical Systems Roadmap within the team’s user group on Workplace.
“It has enabled services to discharge patients who no longer need appointments. It will be embedded into our services so we can free up time for clinicians. We are constantly seeking out best ways we can use digital technology for our staff. We have limited staff and funds, so we need to be savvier with technology and how we are using it.”
Shonna earned the title of Queen’s Nurse (QN) in 2010 and received the QN long service award in November 2024 for her 23 years of service in the community.
For the past four years, Shonna has chaired the QN digital group, and she also chairs the EMIS healthcare user group and co-chairs the regional digital decision-making councils. She became involved in these networks to discuss digital initiatives and share best practices.
“I want to promote Sirona at a regional and national level and deliver the best use of systems to our staff and ultimately our patients.”
