Although I only started in my current role in the middle of April, I am technically not ‘new’ to PAHT. In 2018 I joined the Quality First team at PAHT with a placement on the NHS Graduate Management Training Scheme (GMTS). I was on the health informatics stream, and spent time across the Quality First and information teams, getting involved in supporting measurement of quality improvement projects. As part of the scheme, the first few weeks were spent shadowing colleagues across the Trust and wider system, including porters, doctors, therapists, nurses, paramedics, and mortuary technicians – everyone I met was so welcoming and I learnt so much but also about how much there still was to learn.
I was fortunate to have been on the GMTS because of the opportunities it gave me to complete qualifications on the job; I found the teams I worked with were really supportive in helping me achieve competencies as part of my course.
After my time at PAHT, I spent time at a local hospice and a community Trust, where I stayed on in a permanent role in the transformation team. The understanding I gained at PAHT really helped in this role and gave me an appreciation of how acute Trusts function which was helpful as the NHS moves to a more system way of working.
I kept in touch with colleagues from PAHT and met with them to share learning from similar projects I was working on in the community Trust. When I saw the role come up back at PAHT in a more data focused project role, I jumped at the opportunity to apply to return.
Fortunately, I was successful and was happy to start back at PAHT. It has been great to see old and new faces alike, and the welcome has been as positive as it was the first time around. I look forward to working at PAHT longer term and supporting teams with their projects.