“There’s nothing more rewarding than knowing a patient can work, travel, and live"
Before starting her career in healthcare, Natalie was working behind the scenes to keep a busy school running. Fresh out of college, she joined a local school as a Service Desk Technician, where no two days were ever the same. From bringing broken printers back to life to resolving technical issues between lessons, she quickly became a trusted problemsolver and ensured the systems that teachers and students relied on each day continued to run smoothly.
It was during this time that Natalie was approached about an opportunity to join Fresenius Medical Care UK&I as a Service Desk Engineer. Although it meant moving into an entirely new sector, Natalie viewed the opportunity not as a departure from her previous role but more as a natural progression. Both education and healthcare depend on reliable technology to support people every day, and the technical expertise she had developed in the public sector provided a strong foundation for the next stage of her career.
The move from a close-knit school environment into a global healthcare organisation was a significant transition, but one Natalie felt well supported through. Rather than starting from scratch, Natalie was able to deepen her existing expertise in a new setting while gradually expanding her understanding of the technology that underpins patient care.
What helped Natalie through this transition were the colleagues around her, who not only valued what she brought from her previous experience but actively supported her to grow into her new role. Rather than being expected to know everything from the outset, she was guided by team members who took the time to share their expertise, helping her to bridge the gap between technological systems and clinical context. Within this support network, Natalie found space to develop quickly, learning not just how the systems work, but why they mattered to both nurses and those with chronic kidney disease.
Working within a clinical environment, she saw first-hand how reliable technology directly enables treatment pathways, helping to ensure those with chronic kidney disease can receive their care on time and, where possible, return home safely to their families. When systems ran smoothly, it meant that clinical teams could focus their full attention on providing support rather than technical disruption.
Determined to continue building on those early foundations, Natalie also began studying for a degree in Computing & IT while working full-time. Fresenius Medical Care UK&I supported her throughout her studies, giving her the flexibility to balance her role alongside six years of part-time learning. "It was work by day, degree by night," she recalls. "There were plenty of late evenings and weekends spent studying, but it was worth it." Being able to apply what she was learning directly to her day-to-day work accelerated both her professional and personal development, helping to build the platform for the roles that followed.
From there, Natalie’s role expanded naturally. Over the course of more than 12 years with Fresenius Medical Care UK&I, she progressed into her current position as Regional Business Manager, a role that reflects not just her technical background, but her deep understanding of how care is delivered in practice. In this role, she supports teams across a wide region, from the Midlands down to Bristol and across areas including Norfolk and Essex, staying closely connected to day-to-day clinical delivery.
For Natalie, however, the role has never been about geography or scale. It is about something far more human: ensuring that those with chronic kidney disease can work, travel, and live their life around dialysis, rather than allowing dialysis to define their lives. That principle continues to shape how she approaches her work today, by improving the systems that give those living with chronic kidney disease greater freedom.
Looking back, Natalie’s career has been shaped by a curiosity about how systems can be designed to support people. What began with fixing problems in a school environment developed into a long-term career in healthcare technology, where that same instinct to understand took on far greater meaning. Across every stage, her focus has remained on improving the quality of life for those who need it most.