Staff

Lysbeth Weeks RGN, RMN
Head of Home

Lysbeth trained in Devon as a general nurse before working as a volunteer nurse in an orphanage in South India and a street clinic in Calcutta. In 1987 she trained as a mental health nurse in Oxford and before moving to Vale House, worked in Oxford Health NHS FT in different roles.

After qualifying, Lysbeth worked in an acute psychiatric unit and then spent a number of years working as a clinical nurse specialist in addictions before moving into working with older adults. Over the last decade she has worked in the general hospitals in Oxfordshire as a psychiatric liaison nurse for older adults and then as a community psychiatric nurse and team manager in an older adult community mental health team (CMHT). More recently she has been working in senior management at the trust, her last post was as the head of supervision for Oxford Health.

Lysbeth really enjoys working with older adults and leading teams and is excited about the future of Vale House and continuing to provide excellent care for our residents and to develop our staff so that they are supported to provide this excellent care.

Jo Gambrell
Clinical Manager

Jo joined Vale House in August 2020 as Clinical Manager, working alongside the recently appointed head of home.

Jo's background is Mental Health Nursing, and has worked in the NHS for 33 years. She completed her nurse training in Oxford, working at the Warneford, Littlemore, JRH and Radcliffe Infirmary.

Jo has held positions in inpatient mental health hospitals as Staff Nurse, Deputy Manager and at Ward Manager level. Her last role was as Community Mental Health Nurse in the Older Adult North Community Mental Health Team and has worked with older adults for most of my career, where her patients lived with a range of mental conditions such as depression, anxiety, schizophrenia and dementia.

Jo enjoys working within a multi-disciplinary team, as well as with carers and families. She's had experience with carers groups and co-facilitating CBT for carers groups.

Jo has links with Oxford Brookes and enjoys mentoring the next generation of nursing staff. She regularly teaches on the Older Adult Module on topics such as dementia and the assessment of an older adult.

Philippa Sherry
Family Support Lead

Philippa Sherry joined Vale House in November, 2024. She has dedicated the past year and a half to working as a Social Prescriber at Leys, Donnington, and Temple Cowley Health Centres, primarily focusing on the health and wellbeing of older adults. She has closely collaborated with Age UK and their Dementia Specialist in her role.

Before joining the NHS, Philippa spent most of her career supporting vulnerable children and families in two inner-city primary schools and two Children’s Centres. She is a certified play specialist and is currently training as a counsellor. Outside of work, she enjoys cooking, studying, spending time in nature, and seizing every opportunity to jump into a lake, river, or the sea.