Welcome to the Martina Tierney Podcast!
My vision
- Shine a spotlight on the great work that caregivers of all kinds do to transform patients' lives
- Raise awareness of the importance of Occupational Therapy to improve patient care
- Share heartfelt stories of real patients across the world
- Encourage lean thinking within healthcare systems globally
- Encourage change-makers and challengers to use their voice to make change for good
If an episode resonates with you I challenge you to share it with someone who you think it would benefit - can you think of anyone?
Thank you,
Martina
2.16 Aunt Gladys, The Catalyst For Change | Derek Sleater, Sunday Care Therapy
What happens when care focuses only on keeping someone safe, but forgets about the life they still want to live?In this episode of The Martina Tierney Podcast, Martina speaks with Occupational Therapist and founder of Sunday Care Therapy, Derek Sleater, about the future of care, the power of Occupational Therapy and why autonomy must remain at the heart of every care plan.
Derek shares the powerful story of a woman in her 40s with primary progressive MS who had not been out of bed for more than three years. Her care plan centred on care in bed, but Derek and his team asked a different question: why should this be the rest of her life?
Through careful changes to her care, specialist seating, moving and handling support and a focus on building her seating tolerance, she was eventually able to sit out for three hours, access a wheelchair and return to her community.
Martina and Derek also discuss multidisciplinary care, the pressures facing health and social care, the future role of AI and robotics, and the importance of thinking differently when the system says, “this is just how it is”.
A thought-provoking conversation about dignity, independence, innovation and what can happen when we focus.
Watch the webinar and download the PDF here: https://seatingmatters.com/gb-ie/resources/navigating-equipment-shortages-and-policy-shifts-2
4 Sept 2026
Enhanced Mobilization in the ICU | Kali Dayton, Critical Care NP, USA
What if keeping critically ill patients awake, upright and moving could completely change their recovery?In this episode of the Martina Tierney Podcast, I’m joined by Kali Dayton, a nurse practitioner, critical care consultant and host of Walking Home From The ICU, along with my son Jonathan Tierney.
Kali shares how her early experience in an ICU where intubated patients were routinely awake, communicating and even walking challenged everything she later encountered in more traditional critical care settings.
We explore the long-held practice of sedation and bed rest in ICU care, the impact this can have on muscle strength, cognition and recovery, and why enhanced mobilisation should become part of the standard of care.
We also discuss the importance of getting patients upright and out of bed as early as safely possible, the role of appropriate seating between periods of mobility, and how fear, culture and established routines can sometimes become barriers to change.
This is a fascinating conversation about questioning what has become “normal” in healthcare, challenging outdated practices and looking at how small changes in care can have a profound impact on a patient’s dignity, independence and long-term quality of life.
If you work in critical care, rehabilitation, nursing, occupational therapy, physiotherapy or patient mobility, this is an episode that will make you think differently about what recovery can look like.
19 Aug 2026
2.14 Translating Vision into Action | Michelle Tennyson, Chief Allied Health Professions Officer
In this episode of The Martina Tierney Podcast, Martina speaks with Michelle Tennyson, Chief Allied Health Professions Officer for Northern Ireland, about leadership, improvement and the enormous potential of Allied Health Professionals to shape the future of health and social care.
Michelle represents 14 Allied Health Professions and shares her ambition to ensure their skills, talents and ability to improve patient outcomes are fully understood and utilised across the healthcare system.
After experiencing the Lean culture at Seating Matters firsthand, Michelle discusses why she came to see Lean Made Simple as much more than a methodology — but as a way of creating culture change.
Together, Martina and Michelle explore creating safe environments where people can identify problems without blame, making improvement everybody’s business, protecting patients’ function and moving care closer to where people live.
Michelle also shares a powerful story from her own clinical career that changed the way she thought about patient care — reminding us that behind every condition is a person, and sometimes what matters most isn’t the clinical problem in front of us.
An inspiring conversation about Allied Health Professionals, compassionate care, leadership and putting people at the heart of improvement.
Who has been a guest on Martina Tierney Podcast
Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.
Susanne Giannitti
Kirsty Ryan
Eileen Burns
Sharon McNulty
Norma Findlay
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
YouTube views
1,636
Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025
Spotify
5.0 / 5
7 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 44 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
48
Social presence
0
YouTube
68
Engagement
32
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