Profile

I have worked in the NHS since I was 24. That’s 16 years! I started working as a receptionist in a GP practice so I could afford to go to University. I didn’t go straight to University after finishing my A-Levels; I went straight into work. So, by the time I decided to go to Uni, I was 24, had a house and a baby and needed to work so I could afford to pay my rent.

I worked part time during the week at the GP practice and attended my lectures around this at University. I then studied and revised in the evenings once I had put my baby to bed and had cooked and cleaned. It was a very tiring time but worth the hard work. Three years later, I graduated with 1st class degree in social work.

Despite my degree, I had fallen in love with working in general practice.  Instead of taking a career in social work, I decided to stay in general practice. I loved the face to face contact with patients, helping them when they were experiencing some of their most scary times of their lives. Imagine going to the doctors now with your parents, normally it is because you are poorly and unwell or worried about something. You want help and support and a kind face to help you through that time. Being able to do this with most patients was very rewarding.

I worked my way through that practice, learning absolutely everything I could in the admin office so that, should anyone ever be off sick, I could do my job and their job. And I learned to do it well. By the time I had graduated University, I had been offered the Practice Manager job at the practice.

I worked there for 8 years in total and then saw a vacancy for my job here at The University of Nottingham. It was scary moving to another practice, but I was ready for a challenge and a change.

I have now been in my role here for almost 8 years and, whilst it can be busy and demanding and tiring, I love every part of it. Almost. 🙂

My day job mainly involves managing people. Some people say that this is a very difficult job, and they are right!

Imagine if you have to tell your best friend something very difficult, that you do not think they will  like to hear, but you want to tell them it anyway because that makes you a good friend, well, this is sometimes what I have  to do at work. It is called having difficult conversations with people and some people are good at it and some not so much. But it can be learned.

Sometimes people keep turning up late for work, or keep having days off sick, when they are not really poorly, and I have to speak to them about it. Sometimes, people are not very good at their job and I have to tell them this. But it is not just about telling somebody something they won’t like to hear; if somebody is not performing well in their role, then my job is to give them the support, encouragement and advice to help them do it better! This is the exciting part of the job!

I deal with complaints from patients and we learn from these. We can look at what we can do to improve our service so that people don’t complain any more.

I have to do a lot of paperwork and make sure all the files we have are in order. This includes making sure staff are safe at work, have regular breaks, that they know what to do if there was a fire at the practice or if there was a world-wide pandemic….

I have to make sure people are paid and that if they work any overtime, that they are paid for this. I also have to make sure that staff who are claiming overtime, have actually really worked it.

I have to make sure that people are happy. Happy staff are more productive. If you enjoy a course at school or college, then you are likely going to listen more in class and do well. It is the same at work.  So, if staff have any problems, (with their equipment, or computer or the person they are sat next to!) then it is good to try and sort this out as quickly as possible.

I also do some really fun stuff, like arranging staff days out. Two years ago I arranged for 60 of us to go to the Escape Rooms in Nottingham and I had to find my way out of a dark room before somebody called the Butcher got me!!!

This week, as it is Red Nose Day, I have arranged for us to have a Bake Off! It helps raise money for charity and I get to eat cake all day.

This job is very varied and often you can have an idea of what you will need to do during the week, but it is very likely that your week does not turn out how you imagined it would.

My alarm goes off at 5:45am!! Blaaaahhhhh!!!

I reset this alarm. And it goes off at 6am.

I reset this alarm. And it goes off at 6:15am. I get up, have some fruit and yoghurt, let Steve out for a wee, feed Wendy the cat, and feed John the tortoise some lettuce. Steve is my dog and not my boyfriend.

I travel 40-45 minutes to work. Mostly, since Covid-19, the roads are less busy as more and more people are working from home. I don’t like to work from home as I find it boring and like to speak to people in the office.

I get to work and try to answer most of my emails first thing. This can take 30 minutes or 2 hours depending on the amount and subject matter. This can sometimes take much longer if staff have concerns or problems, as they will come into my office with their problem and often need help straight away. Some days, I can spend my whole day just talking to people about their concerns and problems. I like to help them try and work out a solution rather than just giving them an answer, as next time they have a problem, they are better able to sort it out themselves.

I try to go for a run at lunch around the lake but not always. I will sometimes have lunch in the staff room with the nursing team (they are very noisy!) or sometimes, if I am very busy, I eat at my desk. I have a standing desk so I can stand up and work so I can stretch my legs during the day.

My afternoon can consist of doing project work, or sending more emails, or having meetings but I like to walk around the building too so I can  see what is happening with the staff.

I generally leave around 5pm, sometimes it is earlier and sometimes it is later, about 6pm.

I get home, and normally my boyfriend has made my tea. He is a very good cook.

If it is summer, I will meet friends, or sit in the garden and have a BBQ.

Bedtime – I would like to say it is about 10:30pm but these days, it is more like 9:30pm! Depending on what is on the telly.