A fourth year school pupil from South Lanarkshire is pursuing her dream of becoming a Doctor – by helping to shape local health and social care services.

Mhairi Finlayson, a pupil of Strathaven Academy is focused on a future career in medicine.

Outside of her studies, Mhairi is already making a valuable contribution to people’s lives by joining her local Health and Social Care Forum.

Appointed by South Lanarkshire Health and Social Care Partnership (SLH&SCP) as its
key route for community consultation and engagement, the forum is an independent group of community volunteers.

Mhairi, who has been volunteering for East Kilbride and Strathaven Forum, explained: “As well as being able to have a voice, I feel that belonging to the local Health and Social Care Forum is not only giving me valuable insight but I’m also developing skills I hope will serve me well for my future career.

“It’s been really worthwhile and enjoyable so far.”

Val de Souza, Director of Health and Social Care SLHSCP, said: “We are delighted that Mhairi is involved in the local Health and Social Care Forum, bringing fresh perspective to their vital work.

“This level of involvement exemplifies our vision, Working together to improve health and wellbeing in the community – with the community.”
Mhairi brings a youthful perspective to the forum’s work, saying: “It’s fairly well publicised but I personally believe that social media in some instances can have a detrimental impact on young people. I’ve been feeding back my views to the forum about these pressures, the need to be proactive in education as well as the need to have adequate provision to support young people if they are experiencing challenges in their lives, whether it’s through social media or other sources and circumstances.

“I also have the opportunity to attend forum meetings which involve communicating with other members and presenting viewpoints in a formal but relaxed meeting environment. “