Job Title
Senior Manager for Outpatients and Community Neurology Services
Where are you based?
Hospital and in the community in people’s homes.
Is your role clinical or non-clinical?
Clinical and managerial
When you were at school, did you want to join the NHS?
I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do when I was at school, but I joined the NHS and then my career developed and progressed from there.
What qualifications did you have when you joined the NHS?
I started working for the NHS after I left school and then went to University later to get the degree I needed to progress in my career.
How did you come to work in the NHS?
I first started working in the NHS as an Occupational Therapy Assistant, a role which I absolutely loved, and this was the catalyst for me applying to complete my degree in Occupational Therapy at University.
Briefly explain your job
I provide clinical and operational management to teams of community Therapists and specialist Nurses. This includes service development, patient safety, waiting list management, handling complaints, ensuring service standards are met, staff supervision and development. Occasionally, I still manage to do some home visits to see patients.
What do you love about your job?
I feel very honoured and privileged to work alongside patients, their families, and some wonderful colleagues. The NHS is like family too with a strong ethos to care for those we look after and those we work with.
The best part of my job is the people I work with. And I enjoy improving services, building teams and developing people to deliver the best care.
What is challenging about your role?
The most challenging thing is managing time and different priorities and sometimes having to make difficult decisions about people’s care.
Is there career progression in your role and how would you get there?
The NHS offers such a variety of specialisms and roles and continued support for education and career development. This flexibility means you can also move between different hospitals, and teams. There are so many opportunities to grow and develop in different areas, clinical, research, education, management, human resources. There are so many different routes now too, including apprenticeships.
What would you say to a young person thinking of joining the NHS?
There are so many different opportunities and careers to learn about. Have career conversations, make people aware of your interests and ask if you can do some work shadowing if there is a particular role that interests you. If at first you are turned down, ask a different team or organisation, don’t give up on your dreams.