Philippa Tomany

Phlebotomist

Hi I’m Philippa I have been a Phlebotomist for 17 years,  I started as an 18 year old on Bank unsure about what I wanted to do going forward but have ended up as a Full Time Phlebotomy Team Leader on Band 4.

When I started as a trainee Phlebotomists I had never had experience in healthcare, so had to learn venepuncture, communication skills, and everything that goes with working within a busy healthcare environment.

Overtime I developed skills in all aspects of Phlebotomy inclusive of Paediatrics from NICU (Neonatal Intensive care Unit) to surgical and dementia patients within the acute trust, I also work in the community and within specialist clinics there is lots to learn including administrative duties protocols and infection control but in the early days your well supported, there is no better environment to provide sound communication skills.

I obtained my Healthcare level 3 award that gave me the suitable qualifications to progress to a senior Phlebotomists and then on to be a Phlebotomy Team Leader which is my present role.

As a Team Leader I manage the team of Phlebotomists am responsible for the health and wellbeing of the staff and patients during my shift.  Training junior staff is a major part of my role as is maintaining service quality, online appointment systems, health & Safety and infection control, information governance and queue management for both adults and children.

The Phlebotomy Team at ASPH sees over 10,000 patients per month so we are never bored.

Nketia Obed-Arthur

Foundation Pharmacist

I am one of the new foundation pharmacists at Ashford & St. Peter’s NHS Foundation Trust. I completed my MPharm degree at Durham University in 2019 and after applying to become a pre-registration pharmacist through Oriel, I completed my pre-registration year at Ashford & St. Peter’s in July 2020. 

In my current role as a foundation pharmacist, I am responsible for managing different wards which I rotate between – currently I’m covering an endocrine and rheumatology ward which offers me variation in the types of patients and conditions I see. My role involves giving support to other members of an MDT. This includes clinically screening drug charts to ensure that medication prescribed by medics is safe, appropriate and effective. It also involves ordering medication for patients to ensure that doses aren’t missed, as well as educating patients, doctors and nursing staff with respect to medication. 

I have a strong passion for education: I’ve tutored part time as a GCSE and A-Level tutor for Biology and Chemistry since university, and I’ve translated this passion into the workplace by delivering teaching presentations for junior and senior doctors. 

I have a strong belief in delivering excellent patient care, and it always excites me to be able to do that every day.

Karen Uttley

Assistant director HR , learning, OD, Health & wellbeing

I am the Assistant Director of HR at Ashford and St Peters Hospital, looking after the development and wellbeing of our staff.  My career started many moons ago as a Junior Entrant (which is an old term for apprentice) back in a Local Government organisation in the North.  I was appointed at 17, after one year at College, to undertake a rotation of roles for a year to develop my skills and experience in business and admin.  I then was successful in applying for a role  in the training team there, within HR and the rest is history.   I had undertaken a year of A’ Levels and realising that the traditional form of study was not for me, my parents ‘encouraged’ me to apply for a job and I applied for the Junior Entrant scheme which provided you with skills, experience and qualifications whilst earning a salary.  Win / Win for me.  Since then all my professional study and qualifications have been achieved whilst working.

Megan Adams

Mortuary support worker/admin

I currently work as mortuary support staff which means I help with pretty much everything in the department. I studied at college after school for a year but wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. I left college at 18 and decided to work full time to see what adult life was really like. I soon felt like I missed out on a key part of my education so went back to college to study health and social care and then to university to study psychology. I’m just about to finish my first year at uni this summer.

In the mortuary I work Monday to Friday which is perfect to fit study around since I’m currently studying online. I deal with funeral directors and our bereavement team directly at SPH, and I closely deal with deceased patients who come into our care. I do all the administration and assist my manager in dealing with patient care. It’s a really gratifying job but it definitely does have its downsides but at the end of the day you just have to remember you’re doing a good service for families in their most dreaded and heart breaking times.

Morne Beck

Head of IT

I worked as a porter at Ashford Hospital and attended a microcomputer systems course every Tuesday evening in Regent Street for 6 months. An opportunity arose to assist the local IT Teams for 6 months where I gained a lot of experience. I moved to St Peter’s Hospital when after both hospitals merged as an IT Support engineer and gained valuable operational experience understanding the needs of various departments.

In 2014 I was promoted to IT Service Desk manager and managed a team of 10 staff. My role was to manage the operational side of the service we provide and ensure that requests were dealt with within our SLAs. I attended a few management and server infrastructure courses, but also worked closely with my line managers to learn and understand the needs of our organisation.

In 2018 I became the Head of IT where I’m responsible for the operational, infrastructure and cyber services for our organisation, and manage a team of 17 staff. It is one of the best roles in the organisation. You meet staff from various departments, all with different needs and have to work out ways to assist them best, taking into account organisational policies. I get to explore the governance side of data and cyber security and make strategic IT decisions for our organisation.

Working in IT at ASPH is extremely rewarding when you consider that all the applications and processes our team support are in place to ensure our patients get the best care possible.

Manjit Paul

Principle pharmacy technician

I am the Principal Pharmacy Technician at work at St Peters Hospital Pharmacy. My career started as a pre-reg trainee pharmacy technician at the Lister Hospital Pharmacy in Stevenage at the age of 16. I then qualified and stayed there until I got married and moved to London taking a rotational pharmacy technician post at Ealing Hospital in Southall. I applied for a job at Ashford Hospital as a Deputy Dispensary Manager / Clinical Trials Co-Ordinator and got it. I then applied for a promotion to work at Ashford Hospital as a Dispensary Manager.

Ashford & St Peters merged as one trust and we all got moved over to St Peters Pharmacy and went through reconfiguration where I had to apply for the Dispensary Managers position. I then got promoted again to Principal Pharmacy Technician  Operational Support / Educational & Training at a Band 7 and this is my current job.

My manager is the Operations Manager who came to St Peters as a Band 8a and has since been promoted to 8B and she is also a pharmacy technician.

Rebecca Fairbairn

Head of Comms

I am currently leading the Communications and Engagement team, as Head of Communications, at Ashford and St Peter’s Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (ASPH). I graduated 15 years ago with a BA Hons in Media and Cultural Studies at Southampton University, I did a brief stint as a photographer and then got my first job in the NHS as a PA to the Director of Strategy at the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust. My passion for media and communications continued, so I applied for my first communications role in the NHS at Moorfields eye Hospital a couple of years later. Since then I have progressed through various roles and responsibilities inside and out of the NHS.

I love my current role and working within NHS Communications! It is fast paced, dynamic and creative – no two days are the same. I also really enjoy managing a team, coaching and growing the individuals in the team as well as the function at the Trust.

Steven Hill

Non Clinical Risk Manager

I am employed by Ashford & St Peters NHS Foundation Trust as a Non Clinical Risk Manager. I hold a very privileged position within the Trust as the Trust seeks my advice on a range of Health & Safety, Security, Fire and other matters. I have very limited NHS experience and have undertaken this role for the past 5 years. To be honest I didn’t do very well at school and I took the opportunities to progress and study while working, which involved a lot of evening classes and papers to be written !! Prior to this I was a Sergeant in the Metropolitan Police where I worked for 32 years, I found this career gave me a very good grounding for my current role and I feel very proud to be a part of the NHS.  There is only me in my role and the work tends to come thick and fast but I like to think I am helping contribute towards the Trust being a safer place for all patients, visitors and staff.  Working alone and as part of the wider team is very rewarding.

Aldo Grosso

Porter

I have been a porter for 8 years. I started as a volunteer for one year when I was a student from Brooklands college in Weybridge and then I joined the bank for 3 years following which I took on a full time roll for the past 5 years. There is a range of jobs that I perform as part of my role and these include pushing patients around the hospital on beds so that they can be transferred to another ward or when they require scans for example a CT scans, X-rays and ultrasounds. I also transfer notes to different areas around the hospital and collect patients’ bodies when they have passed away to take them to the mortuary.  I take various equipment to the different wards depending on what patients require and also take dirty equipment away as well as collecting clinical waste like dirty linen and waste in waste bins or in cages. Last year I trained in Security and now I also deal with trouble patients who may be kicking off or want to leave the hospital. My role in these circumstances would be to bring these patients back and sometimes will need to get the police involved.