Post redundancy coaching
Interview coaching
Life transition coaching
Retirement coaching
Hilary Gerrans
Coach
About me
I know what it feels like to hand in your NHS pass and wonder what on earth comes next.
I spent many years working in the NHS — supporting general practice through change, developing facilitators, and ultimately working for NHS England on the implementation of patient access to health records. It was meaningful, absorbing work. And then, like many people, I reached a point where voluntary redundancy felt like the right door to walk through.
What followed surprised me — in the best possible way.
I did what I'm now helping you to do.
I didn't have a plan. What I had was a sense that this was a moment worth taking seriously — not just as a career transition, but as a chance to think about what I actually wanted from the next part of my life.
I trained as a professional coach, qualifying through Barefoot Coaching with an ICF-accredited Certificate in Business and Personal Coaching. I became a member of the International Coaching Federation. And for the first time in years, I made proper time for my art — I'm a painter, working in acrylics and oils — and remembered what it felt like to do something just because it mattered to me.
Then I went backpacking. Alone. Through France and Spain.
I'm telling you this not to show off, but because it's relevant. I didn't read about starting over — I did it. And somewhere on those long walks, I understood something that I now try to bring into every coaching conversation: that the life you want after a long career isn't hiding from you. It just needs space and quiet to become clear.
Since I got home, I've been learning Italian. This year, Interrail ticket already bought, I'm heading to Italy. One chapter genuinely does lead to another — if you let it.
Where I am now.
I live on the edge of the Peak District, looking out over the Limb Valley and a flock of sheep. I paint. I walk. I coach. Life, genuinely, couldn't be better. I work with people who are standing where I once stood — at the end of something long and significant, not quite sure what the beginning of the next thing looks like. I bring to that work everything I know about the NHS, about transitions, about what it takes to hear yourself think after years of looking after everyone else. If any of this sounds familiar, I'd love to have a conversation.
Book a free 30-minute discovery call
No commitment. Just a conversation.