In the Spotlight - Corey Davies

Each month, the 'In The Spotlight' campaign shines a light on the different people who make up Cardiff and Vale University Health Board, from those who support behind the scenes, to those who have passions that led them to work in their role.

‘In The Spotlight’ this month is Corey Davies. Corey is a Clinical Scientist within the Lung Function and Sleep Apnoea service. He is shortlisted for the Rising Star Award at the 2025 UK Advancing Healthcare Awards this week. 

Corey Davies is a Clinical Scientist within the Lung Function and Sleep Apnoea service based at University Hospital Llandough. The service sees patients referred by their GPs and Consultants for respiratory concerns such as Asthma and COPD, or sleep-related physiological problems like obstructive sleep apnoea. 

Corey initially joined Cardiff and Vale University Health Board in 2019 as a Respiratory Physiologist, and re-joined during the COVID-19 pandemic after a short stint working at Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board. He started in 2020 as a trainee Clinical Scientist and has developed to become a Clinical Lead within his department. He was recently shortlisted for the Rising Star Award at the upcoming UK Advancing Healthcare Awards. 

“We primarily offer a diagnostics service,” said Corey. “We perform several different tests, looking at variations of lung function. Basically, we ascertain whether the individual has got any sort of abnormal physiology and then report that back to the referring consultant.” 

Building on this core service, Corey has recently been piloting a physiology-led clinic for patients with Interstitial Lung Disease (ILD), a progressive lung condition.  

“Traditionally a consultant would establish a diagnosis of ILD, where many patients are seen on a 6 or 12 monthly basis and endure a period of disease stability. Within physiology we have taken on the management of this group of patients. Before we would only perform diagnostics, but skill-set wise we're a lot more equipped now with modern training programmes to do more. So we have been piloting doing the tests and performing the clinical review at the same time. 

“It’s been really successful. For the patient, it's one to two less visits to the hospital a year. It has also improved the availability of the consultant so they can focus on new referrals.” For its impacts, Corey was awarded the ‘Improving Access to Care’ Award at the 2024 Cardiff and Vale Healthcare Science Awards. 

Asked about what he likes best about the role, Corey highlights the diversity. He said: “I won't have two days the same. Diagnostic services as a whole are quite standardised; every test technically should be the same for each person. But it is patient reliant so you're trying to coach somebody to do a breathing test, for example, and coach them through the technique. So every experience is very different. Sometimes challenging. but it keeps you on your toes every day.”

His role as Clinical Lead also brings the opportunity to mentor junior members of the team and students, something Corey finds equally fulfilling. “I get to pass on a lot of learning, knowledge and techniques whilst mentoring trainees along their training programme. Seeing people develop and grow confidence is really rewarding.”

Corey didn’t grow up dreaming of being a Clinical Scientist but once he found it, he knew it was the right fit. “I always liked science and I studied forensics at a college level. But Physiology is one of those things you kind of stumble into. It's quite an under advertised career, but once I did find the course it was something that I just took to straight away and really enjoyed it. I did it at undergraduate level and then did my Masters in Clinical Science. As a Team we are actively promoting the career to improve recognition by performing outreach work at local schools and colleges across Cardiff.”

Corey has also just completed a nine month secondment with Health Education and Improvement Wales (HEIW) as Clinical Lead for Physiology. As part of the programme, Corey worked with national bodies and Welsh Government to explore what’s working and what’s not across physiology services on a national basis.

“We looked at what areas are working well, what can we do differently and how we can transform services to work more efficiently and more functionally. It was a challenging role, but something I learned a lot of lessons from, and it really broadened by perspective of healthcare science”

Talking about his recent award nomination, Corey said: “I felt really honoured. I'm not the most outgoing of people and not a person who likes to be in the spotlight that much. I very much keep myself to myself and work hard with the team around me, but I was really happy about it.

“I think I've been able to get to this point purely because of the environment of the team in Lung Function. I’ve had a really good manager and mentorship along my journey so far, something I feel I am now trying to emulate to those I mentor. Even though I've been nominated for the AHA award, it's fully a result of the team effort and I’d like to show a bit of appreciation for them as well.”

One of the key objectives for the Shaping Our Future Wellbeing strategy is Putting People First, where people will feel valued, developed, supported and engaged. People are at the centre of everything we do. Those who work at Cardiff and Vale University Health Board make a difference to people’s lives every single day. Hear more about how we are putting people first in the Shaping Our Future Wellbeing strategy by visiting the webpage here: Home - Shaping our Future Wellbeing.

Read about other roles and colleagues who have been 'In the Spotlight' here.