Publish date: 22 April 2022

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We’re creating a series of articles to introduce you to a range of colleagues, showing how our varied teams and colleagues work and fit into the way DHU approaches patient care.

Here, we shine the spotlight on Alexandra Reece-Sumner, our Stock and Equipment Manager, whose team help to keep all of our services up and running with the tools of their trades.

Alex said: “I’ve worked here for 13 years, initially out of hours, starting as an HCA driver assisting practitioners with patient care. I also streamed at the Urgent Care Centre situated at the Leicester Royal Infirmary for around seven years before being asked to assist in Pharmacy, ordering medications and moving them across to the different sites.

“This evolved as I began ordering medical equipment, supplies and medication across our many sites until my current role was created. It became clear that there was a necessity for a role like this as DHU grew from a small number of small sites to more, larger sites and wider community nursing. It needed structure, stock audits and a more robust system of ordering. As things grew, we began running the risk of over-ordering on some products meaning that we weren’t always making the most of our resources. This enabled me to build a small team that could look after the ordering and distribution more effectively as we continued to grow as an organisation.”

Alex did much of this on her own before Stock and Equipment Assistants Alistair Burns and Shaune Farrell joined. The team was responsible for ensuring all services across DHU Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland (LLR) had the appropriate equipment, ensuring the equipment was well maintained, calibrated on a robust schedule to make certain that the clinicians had everything they needed to look after our patients.

And then Covid hit.

“Suddenly all of our careful planning, systems and auditing changed,” Alex recalls. “We became heavily involved in ordering PPE, making sure we had the right kit for the right environments, we had to learn to fit test masks, organise the setting up of swabbing stations at various sites and work to new guidelines. At the same time our usual method of stock control had to change because there were fewer appointments and the dynamic of home visits changed, which meant different levels of medication and equipment were needed. It was incredibly challenging and the pace of change was unprecedented.

“Keeping our people safe took on a different meaning and it really was a case of our team working round the clock to keep our staff and patients safe and keep services running. We had to learn at a very fast pace as guidelines changed so quickly, DHU stepped forward with assisting various organisations with the Swabbing and Vaccination sites. To reflect the pace of change we quickly developed very close working relationships with suppliers and partners to ensure DHU LLR had a continuous supply of essential PPE and equipment when there was a national shortage.

“It’s no exaggeration to say that my team were an essential part of the local and regional response to Covid-19 and I’m incredibly proud of what we achieved. We helped to keep staff and patients safe and protect our services; making sure our people have what they need to provide that high quality, compassionate care.”

Alex’s small but incredibly organised team have adapted to ensure we are all able to play our part in enabling DHU to support healthcare provision. From life-saving pieces of medical equipment, to your basic consumables needed to provide a high quality of care goes through the Stock and Equipment Team to keep DHU running.

Thanks to Alex for telling us about her team and keep your eyes peeled for DHU’s next #WhatDoYouDo.

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