‘There are so many reasons to join Red Kite View’

Staff nurse Alan Hussey joins Red Kite View and the service from Dublin. He says there are many reasons why he has made such a major move.

When I look at it, there are quite a few factors why moving to a new post in a new country attracted me. Probably foremost is working with young people.

It appealed to me to be working in the NHS after two years in the private sector, and particularly working with adolescents who need an empathetic conversation.

My university placement was with a CAMHS unit in Dublin and I immediately found I had an affinity with a small ward where I could get to know patients in depth, and to take part in family therapy which is so important to those patients.

I gained my degree in Mental Health Nursing at Trinity College, Dublin, in 2018 and then qualified at St Patrick’s University Hospital. I then spent two years at working in the private sector, but came to feel I needed a different nursing environment and a different clinical setting.

Throughout I have been interested in psychoanalysis, and when I discovered that Leeds University offers a doctorate in the subject, coinciding with the opening of this very lovely new Red Kite View building, I easily persuaded myself that I should apply to work here.

I also liked the idea of the city of Leeds. It’s rather like Dublin in atmosphere and culture and layout, it’s not too big or small, and there’s lots of green space. People too are of a similar disposition – they have a similar warmth and friendliness.

I like the idea of being in at the beginning of the Red Kite View project so that I can be part of moulding ideas and a team from the beginning, and being with colleagues from the beginning. I know that the new service here is very much about working as an in-patient unit collaboratively with the other care services in the community who provide care for service users.

I have already been working in this way in my previous role and I am excited that I will be able to contribute to ongoing care here in the same enlightened way. I’m really looking forward to the future at Red Kite View and being part of a team that empowers our young people to realise and maintain their potential.