Professor Louise Hicks is Chief Nursing Information Officer(CNIO) and Director of Development at Barts Health. Louise has been recognised for her work in clinical informatics and digital transformation. Particularly, with previous successes in digital transformation which began with electronic nursing documentation in 2019, led by Louise, helped to empower and inspire nursing staff and instilled confidence for this next step in digital transformation.
Hidden Figures - Margot Lee Shetterley
Before Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, a group of professionals worked as ‘Human Computers’, calculating the flight paths that would enable these historic achievements. Among these were a coterie of bright, talented African-American women. Moving from World War II through NASA’s golden age, touching on the civil rights era, the Space Race, the Cold War, and the women’s rights movement, Hidden Figures interweaves a rich history of mankind’s greatest adventure with the intimate stories of five courageous women whose work forever changed the world.
Louise says: "A true inspiration - breaking barriers & interweaving the stories of five courageous women working at NASA as “human computers” during the times of the American Civil Rights Movement. I love this for so many reasons, leadership, intelligence, courage, human endeavour, talent, fairness and justice and most of all the shared triumph and ongoing impact."
Close to the Wind - Pete Goss
Pete Goss became a national and international hero when he rescued French yachtsman Raphael Dinelli as his boat sank beneath him in the round-the-world single-handed sailing race, the Vendee Globe, on Christmas Day 1996. In doing so Pete scuppered his own chances in the race but was awarded the Legion d'Honneur by France's president and made a friend for life in Dinelli. Close to the Wind is his own story of the race and its dramas, his revolutionary boat, Aqua Quorum, his thoughts and emotions during four months of solitude at sea, the extraordinary surgery that he had to perform on his own elbow and the aftermath of the rescue in the Southern Ocean.
Louise says: "I met Pete at an NHS leadership seminar where we were both getting coffee & musing over whether the speaker that day would be inspiring. He was and yes, of course it was him! A man who set sail around the world & gave up his place in that race to save another competitor. His recounting of sailing in the southern ocean, of solitude & performing surgery on himself give you an insight into sacrifices, goals & what really matters in the end!"
The Lido Guide - Emma Pusill & Janet Wilkinson
From beautiful Art Deco lidos to humble, fiercely loved community pools, this is the definitive photographic guide to around 130 lidos in the UK and Channel Islands. This unique collection has been updated, and each entry details what makes the pool special and what swimming there is like, as well as providing information about refreshments, accessibility and much more. This guide is organised geographically and includes information on how to find the lidos, it also suggests other nearby pools so you can plan your own lido road trips.
Louise says: "Not only can you read this book but you can swim it too. A few favourites - the 1920’s Jesus Green Lido in Cambridge unheated, 90 meters long & tall trees creating dappled light. Most northerly The Trinkie - filled by the North Sea & amazing views or the beautifully spacious Art Decco Tinside Pool in Plymouth. If you like a bit of heat try Woodhall Spa & the Jubilee Pool… whether you say “Lee-do or Ly-do” it’s lovely to swim outdoors."
Together is Better - Simon Sinek
This unique and delightful little book makes the point that together is better in a quite unexpected way. Simon Sinek, bestselling author of Start With Why, Leaders Eat Last and The Infinite Game, blends the wisdom he has gathered from around the world with a heartwarming, richly illustrated original fable.
Working hard for something we don't care about is called stress. Working hard for something we love is called passion.
Louise says, "Working hard for something we love is called passion. This lovely little book identifies that together is better in achieving our goals & fulfilling our ambitions. A wonderful colleague & friend gave me this a few years ago in remembering what a great time we had, so it’s a treasured read!"
The Penguin Lessons - Tom Michell
Tom Michell is in his roaring twenties: single, free-spirited and seeking adventure. He has a plane ticket to South America, a teaching position in a prestigious Argentine boarding school, and endless summer holidays.
What he doesn't need is a pet. What he really doesn't need is a pet penguin.
But while on holiday in Uruguay he spots a penguin struggling in an oil slick and knows he has to help. And then the penguin refuses to leave his side . . .
Clearly Tom has no choice but to smuggle it across the border, through customs, and back to school. He names him Juan Salvador.
Whether it's as the rugby team's mascot, the housekeeper's confidant, the host at Tom's parties or the most flamboyant swimming coach in world history, Juan Salvador transforms the lives of all he meets - including Tom, who discovers a compadre like no other.
Louise says, "Such a lovely heart-warming book. Reminds you of the connection & love between all creatures; in this instance a Tom as a young man and a Magellan Penguin. Unique & a beautiful read".
A book yet to read...
Pale Blue Dot - A Vision of the Human Future in Space - Carl Sagan
Future generations will look back on our epoch as the time when the human race finally broke into a radically new frontier--space. In Pale Blue Dot Sagan traces the spellbinding history of our launch into the cosmos and assesses the future that looms before us as we move out into our own solar system and on to distant galaxies beyond. The exploration and eventual settlement of other worlds is neither a fantasy nor luxury, insists Sagan, but rather a necessary condition for the survival of the human race.
Louise says: "On Audible so it would be good company!
On 14th Feb 1990 the Voyager 1 Space Probe turned & took a photograph of Earth from 6 billion kilometres, it shows our home’s vulnerability in the vast cosmic ocean as a tiny pale blue dot. Carl Sagan wrote an amazing book reflecting on the vision of our human future “…it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to cherish and preserve the pale blue dot, the only home we’ve ever known.” Also resonating for me is the sentiment that what will make the difference is not technology per se, but technology with good judgement …!
Published in 1994 it’s been around a while … ahead of its time. I’ll need time to read this - the desert island seems a perfect opportunity…"
Luxury Item
"Can I have an endless supply of my husband’s mugs of tea please or is that too practical?
Otherwise I would take a short film of my granddaughter laughing and clapping – that’s enough to cheer any day!"
Record
Daydream Believer - whether you like the Monkees original or Robson & Jerome this reminds me of family trips in the car & our boys singing “cheer up sleepy Jean” – a good sing along for the island!