Pat is Head of Social Work and holds managerial responsibility for the leadership and delivery of the qualifying MA Social Work alongside a range of post-qualifying programmes, including Best Interest Assessor, Approved Mental Health Professional and Return to Social Work.

Her research interests focus on exploring inclusive, integrated pedagogies for professional practice and social work education that align with social justice.

She is a Principle Fellow of Advance Higher Education in recognition of her national profile in learning and teaching.

Pat graduated from the London School of Economics in 1984 with a BSc (Economics) Social Policy. After this she worked at Saint Bartholomew's Hospital in London to work as a social work assistant. She qualified as a social worker in 1986, having retuned to the London School of Economics to study for a Masters in Social Work (CQSW). Pat then joined the London Borough of Camden Social Services and worked intitially as a generic social worker before moving to specialise in child and family social work.

After several years in social work practice, Pat joined the London Borough of Hackney Social Work Education Unit as a Senior Training Officer. She completed her Masters in Education (Continuing Education) from the University of Sheffied due to her interest in pedagogy and sudent learning. In 1996 Pat joined Middlesex University as a Senior Lecturer in Social Work and overtime was promoted to Principal Lecturer in Social Work/ Learning and Teaching Strategy Leader and eventually to Director of Learning and Teaching for the Department of Mental Health, Social Work and Integrative Medicine. During this period Pat undertook a School and University wide leadership role in relation to developing learning and teaching practices across disciplines.

In 2012 Pat completed her PhD by public works with her thesis entitled Researching Pedagogy in a Contested Space. Her research interests and publications continie to be in the area of pedagogy and she is particularly interested in exploring how recent changes in the landscape of higher education are impacting on student learning and univeristy practices.

Pat represents the University of Manchester at Governance level in the Greater Manchester Social Work Academy  (GMSWA) Teaching Partnership. This is a large partnership comprising all ten Greater Manchester Local Authorities, Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust and the four universities in Greater Manchester. A key aspiration of the GMSWA is to enhance social work education - at qualifying and post-qualifying levels - across the region with the ultimate aim of improving services provided to the community. Pat plays an active role in this process - often chairing workstreams and leading projects.

From 2018 - 2021 Pat was also a member of the Manchester Poverty Truth Commission and worked with civic leaders and grassroots community leaders to work toward supporting communities living in poverty within Manchester.

Pat currently works in a voluntary capacity as a Safeguarding Lead in the community.

PhD Middlesex University (2012)

Master of Education (Continuing Education) University of Sheffield (1997)

MSc Social Work (CQSW) London School of Economics and Political Science (1986)

BSc Econ (Social Policy) Londoon School of Economics and Political Science (1984)

Co-Chair of the national Joint Universities Social Work Association since 2018.

UoM representative on the North West Regional Improvement (RIPP) Workforce Workstream.

Registered social worker with Social Work England.

Pedagogies for professional practice and social work education

Principal Fellow Higher Education Academy 2016 (now Advance HE)