October 2022
Tell us about your role…
I work in the admissions team for the children’s ear, nose and throat (ENT) service at Evelina London Children’s Hospital.
I schedule surgical admissions for up to 10 ENT, otology and hearing implant consultants. Some of my day-to-day duties include talking with parents and carers about their child’s surgery, and liaising with other departments across the Trust to make sure any investigations and procedures are scheduled within our 6 week and 18 week waiting targets. I also solely manage the ENT admissions and manage the diary for children's operating theatres.
I am based at Becket House, in an office just over the road from the hospital. It’s great to sit with clinical colleagues so we can easily speak with each other when coordinating patient care. I also enjoy having the flexibility to work from home.
What is your favourite part of the work you do?
I love working with a great team of consultants and colleagues who encourage me to bring the best to my role. Putting patients first, listening to their concerns and reassuring parents that may have been waiting a long time for their child’s surgery, to help ease their anxiety, is a really rewarding part of the job.
I also really enjoy the weekly scheduling meetings and one-to-one discussions with the consultants, where we look at how to prioritise patient care. No 2 weeks feel the same and its interesting to work across different cases, knowing I am playing a part in providing the best care to our patients.
Can you tell us a particular highlight since you started working at Evelina London?
Last year, I was delighted to win a Love Admin award. Love Admin is an annual campaign celebrating staff in roles from admissions to finance to strategy. Essentially, anyone who works to support our clinical staff to provide excellent care. It was a very surreal moment, as I’ve never been nominated for any kind of award before this. I was very happy and bursting with utmost pride. It shows that all the work I do has not gone unnoticed, and how important collaboration between clinical and non-clinical staff is. We all have the same goal to provide the best service to our young patients and their families.
Is there anything you’ve achieved in your role that you’re really proud of?
My career progression from a Band 3 to a Band 4 Patient Pathway Coordinator, as it was due to my hard work and dedication to offering the best service to my department and Evelina London as a whole. Training and education opportunities at the Trust have been instrumental to my growth and development and I have taken advantage of some courses on offer which have helped with my career progression in the trust.
Tell us one fun fact about your role
It is very fast paced with lots of quick turn arounds, such as chasing admission dates and offering these to patients when things change last minute because of unexpected circumstances. I feel like having a role which involves communicating with our patients and helping them to feel at ease makes a big difference. It really does make me feel worthwhile and puts a smile on my face at the end of each day.
Thank you to the children and young people who have so brilliantly illustrated our blog pages.