Joanne McNaughton Hair & Make Up

The Other Bennet Sister — a period drama where hair must remain one consistent, natural colour. That means no modern techniques like ombré, balayage, highlights or lowlights. Instead, we focus on creating a beautifully authentic, all-over tone suited to the era.

A big part of my role as a Hair & Make-up Artist is gently taking hair back from today’s more bleached, multi-tonal looks to a soft, natural base colour that feels true to the period.

It’s one of my favourite parts of preparing for a TV series. I get to spend relaxed time with the actresses — colouring hair over coffee, sharing homemade scones, and of course, a few head massages along the way. It’s my way of creating a calm, comfortable space for the wonderful women in my care.

I’ve loved watching these leading ladies — Grace, Lucinda, Maddie and Claire — on screen, knowing I played a small part in shaping their look. It really is a lovely job, especially when working alongside such incredible women. ❤️

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The other Bennet Sister on BB1, were I supervised the hairstyles & ran a team of 16 hmu x

I was in the queue Monday to Friday for
2 hours to neurology Belfast , no answer

It’s evident from the people who DM me and on my FB posts that we are all being affected .

To sum up , we have few consultants in every field of care and of the few consultants across any department in NI at least half of them are only part time .
Job sharing in the nhs and the private hospitals in NI
They split their week in two doing both nhs hospital and the private hospital work .
Therefore how can anyone be taken care of appropriately.
Care is slap dash , letters / emails don’t get passed from GP’s to consultants properly as the consultants are only in their posts 2 to 3 days a week leaving GP’s on the front line alone with endless referrals going into a mass pile of unanswered emails and digital patient notes.
An example let’s call our consultant Dr Robins

Dr Robins requests the nurse to take Ronan’s bloods on Monday.
The bloods come back from the lab 2 days later and there’s a problem , it’s Wednesday.
Dr Robins is now in his private hospital doing private work on Wednesday
Dr Robins isn’t back in until next Monday
Ronan’s GP can also see the results digitally but can’t do anything as it’s a specialised diagnosis for the consultant to give the care / next action .
HENCE THE EVER GROWING WAITING LISTS and if seen the days and even weeks of waiting for an action to be taken.

It’s gone on this past 10 years here but enough is enough.
Consultants who are Job sharing / double jobbing should not be allowed within the NHS.
It’s not fair on our GP’s , it’s not acceptable for our citizens who rely on the NHS.
When I get my full petition going , I will carry on as hard as I can to stop this
We need the petition
GET MORE NEUROLOGISTS IN NORTHERN IRELAND to grow legs and be spread across all for everyone’s healthcare .
I’m not sure if I can have it re worded or start again but I will raise it across all healthcare departments.
Thank you to everyone for your stories xx

Update on Epilepsy care for Ronan .

Today has been a good day so to speak .
With persistent phone calls Ronan is finally on a list to see a consultant neurologist in Belfast.
Let me tell you a story about a boy who in his first year at Magee University took his first seizure in a driver instructors car one morning , 3 months after starting uni .

Ronan is his name and he’s my youngest son

He was admitted to Altnagelvin Hospital after this first seizure and I was working in London.
I got the first flight home that I could that afternoon.

When I took Ronan home from Altnagelvin hospital we rang his GP in Ballycastle and he prescribed what he could for suspected epilepsy.

Ronan was put on a waiting list to see a neurologist in Derry thereafter.
It was Covid in March 2020 just then.
Students at the University were asked to
park up their things from Uni as students were asked to go home from the halls .

On that very morning I was going to help Ronan pack up and come home when he took his second seizure .
I had rang him to say I was 20 mins away and he didn’t answer the phone . He always answered me always .
I immediately worried on that car journey , when I arrived at the halls I raised my concern to the Halls supervisor and she agreed to let me into his room .
Sure enough Ronan was coming out of a seizure , it was terrifying for me and I rang an ambulance straight away .
We were took to Altnagelvin hospital again for admission, that took 6 hours but Ronan got a bed .

We still hadn’t seen a consultant, we didn’t see a consultant that time either . Next morning Ronan was send home awaiting his neurology appointment still.

That appointment would take another year ! One whole year !
Finally Ronan got to see a consultant in Derry to confirm epilepsy after 10 more seizures.

When Ronan did finally get his diagnosis and specialised prescription, we were devastated as a family but relieved to know the reason for his seizures.

Ronan later had to drop out of his Coding degree at Magee because of his seizures affecting him and his missing days to keep up .

Ronan got accepted to Ulster University in Belfast to take a computing and business studies degree instead the following October.

He moved to Belfast 3 years ago and 2 years ago he requested to transfer to the Belfast trust for his neurology consultations to make it easier for him to manage his epilepsy.
Ronan has had 40 seizures at least in the past 2 years and having to wait up to a month to have his prescription increased by his consultant in Derry just because of her volume of work .
Meanwhile still on a waiting list to join the Royal Victoria neurology department in Belfast where he’s been living for 3 years now and on an internal transfer list for 2 years of waiting.

Ronan had a terrible seizure last Friday at home with us.
We had to ring the paramedics

I should say that once Ronan does get a review of his meds he can can be well for a relatively long spell.
This period of time has been interrupted since July 2025 last summer .
It’s been a difficult time just because of the lack of specialist prescribing which can only be done by a consultant.
The time it takes a Belfast trust GP to get to a Derry trust consultant is unreal to make the adjustments.

Ronan is on the outpatient list for the Belfast trust internally for 2 whole years and it still hadn’t happened until today .
This is day 1 on the list , we have to start all over again even though Ronan has been on an internal transfer list !!!!!!!

As I pointed out in my last FB post there is only 1 neurologist in Belfast specialising in epilepsy currently trying his best to review existing , see initial new patients and continue to see all of his patients not just those with epilepsy at his clinic .
It’s impossible for him
He needs more colleagues to be found whether it’s a government funding or lack of qualified neurologists issue .
Antrim hospital has absolutely none for over a year now
I think it’s actually both salary and recruitment problems.

That’s why I have raised a petition for government to INCREASE THE NUMBER OF NEUROLOGISTS in Northern Ireland by addressing the issue there’s only 3 full time out of the 5 who specialise in epilepsy.

If the government needs to recruit from overseas or increase the salaries for those who are here and stop them leaving the nhs for the much more lucrative private hospitals in Northern Ireland then the government must.

Healthcare shouldn’t only be for those who can afford private healthcare.
There’s too much neglect in all departments of health care currently in Northern Ireland.

I’ll definitely be looking to everyone, your family and your friends when I get to post my petition on Facebook again .
I achieved the initial 5 supporters and I thank them for there quick and valued support but it will be a huge campaign to get the 100,000 signatures I need to get to Wes Streeting but I have determination xx

So here it is !
We got to see Ronan’s really lovely GP this afternoon in Belfast after I rang this morning make an appointment for him. I explained he had had another grand Mal seizure on Friday afternoon lasting 10 mins.

So the medication dosage Ronan is on can only be increased by his Consultant neurologist. Getting his case reviewed by his consultant neurologist can take 3 weeks .
This happens a lot btw , only today I decided to share his story of 5 years with epilepsy. We can’t expect the medication to be reviewed for up to 3 weeks .

So the thing is Ronan will have more seizures until then . Rather depressing thought tonight but then we have been here time and time again .

Its in humane I would say , what’s your thoughts , signed worried mum 🙁

If and when I get to the stage of asking you all for 100,000 signatures to have more neurologists in Northern Ireland.
I’d really really really love your support and your friends support , your work colleagues support and your far flung relatives support with all their signatures to make my petition heard in London .
The petition is now at the checking & review stage thanks to the 5 people who helped me this afternoon xx

Please sign
I would really appreciate support for this

petition.parliament.uk