Meet the women of Nuffield Health - Davina Deniszczyc

Can you tell us about your role at Nuffield Health?

As Medical and Charity Director I get involved with lots of new and exciting initiatives to drive forward the purpose of Charity, including clinical research.

What does International Women’s Day mean to you?

It's nice to celebrate and recognise how far we have come in terms of diversity; it also highlights that we are still on a journey and we are not there yet.

The day acts as a reminder that there are still lots of other issues around diversity and inclusion that employers and leaders have a responsibility to tackle.

What do you think is the biggest challenge for women today and what has been your biggest challenge?

Talking about myself coming from medicine, the changes over the past few years are huge. I was one of the first Responsible Officers and I remember a national conference we had, nearly everyone in the room was male - I was even asked to make tea and coffee a lot on that day from others who presumed I was part of the hospitality!

Culturally and socially, I think we possibly haven’t moved on as much in terms of home life, as businesses and organisations have. There is still the pressure, it goes without saying that there’s an expectation that it is the female that does the childcare, that does the prep and the planning, the food etc. We have that ingrained in us, it’s probably in our DNA in terms of care giving. Trying to be able to balance that is still a continual challenge. I think that sometimes we are not that kind to each other, some of the challenges we are still faced with is our absolute ingrained beliefs and cultures that are so ground in it is going to be difficult to escape from.

It's really hard to be good at two things, i.e. good in your job and good in your home life, something will always give and trying to continually balance that is difficult- we have to remember we all face it , we all feel it and to be kind to each other.

Which woman has inspired you and why?

Probably the biggest influence in terms of inspiring me and making me challenge and push me, was family, my Nanna.

Not letting things get you down, always seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, knowing that if something doesn’t feel right in your gut don’t be afraid to challenge it was always her ethos and that has really stuck with me.

Last updated Monday 8 March 2021

First published on Monday 8 March 2021