Publish date: 1 November 2022

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Today we visit Northamptonshire, where we’d like to introduce you to Carolyn Jeffs who has worked as a receptionist, call handler, and a dispatch controller/tracker at the out of hours service in Northampton for more than 31 years.

She may ‘only’ have been with DHU for a little over 3 years but has been a mainstay in her area of work for such a long time, we wanted to find out what makes her “tick”.

Carolyn told us: “I’ve been in an admin role all the time and thoroughly enjoy it but worked within a number of different organisations as the providers have changed including, Northampton Medical Services, Normed, Nenedoc and IC24 before DHU took over the Northamptonshire contract in 2019.

"Trained to identify life-threatening conditions"

“I started in 1991, which was pre-computer.  I used to take the calls from patients to find out more about their health conditions.  I was trained to identify initial life-threatening conditions (ILTCs), then triage the patients to the right place, at the right time with the right clinician.  I suppose it’s not unlike what the 111 service does now but on a more local level.

“We had CB radios and it was regular practice for doctors to be out on the road and see people in their own homes, therefore we had to know where they were and give them directions to their next appointments.  We didn’t generally have clinics apart from a Sunday morning. It was hard going for GP’s as they had to cover their own surgeries.  This prompted a group of surgeries to get together to form a company of surgeries, evolving into what we have now where we all fall under Primary Care teams which helps the GPs to cover each other’s shifts and surgeries.

“It's been fascinating to work through such changes particularly having worked mainly at one place in Northampton, but I have also worked at Danetre Hospital, Daventry.”

Carolyn will routinely meet and greet patients, whether they’ve been booked in from A&E, referred by 111, or booked through their own system and make sure that the GP’s clinic is properly equipped.  She will also phone patients to book them an appointment and perform essential data entry to keep medical records up to date.

"It's important to keep an eye on the patients"

“I’ve picked up a lot of knowledge from working in and around clinicians, which was fascinating” added Carolyn.  “The triage side isn’t quite as big a part of my work anymore; I still like to assess.  It is important to keep an eye on the patients in the waiting area to make sure their health doesn’t deteriorate.  I’m always on the lookout for patients who are unusually quiet, maybe look anxious or might be in pain. If anything seems out of place, then I’ll check on them and escalate it as a priority so that they can be seen sooner.

“So, what do I enjoy about my role? Well, the variety of work is enjoyable.  The phrase ‘everyday is different’ genuinely applies to my role.  I love the people with whom I work, I like to get to know them and, in some cases, their families.  I think it’s important; you spend so much time with them, often on a very long shift.

“I’m proud of my longevity and loyalty to the role.  I like to bring some of my experience to the younger, newer colleagues and provide the support to the doctors and clinicians as well.  It can be hard to start a new job; maybe it’s your first job out of university so I want people to feel comfortable with me and help them to settle in.  They also share their knowledge about I.T. and, with an open mind, I enjoy learning helpful new tips of the trade from the youngsters.  We’ve all been flexible and learned to adapt to change over the past three years and support each other so we’re a close-knit group.

“I hope I do a good job; I always try to be polite, respectful, and non-judgmental, which is how I’d like to be treated.  For what more could I ask? If I can help somebody else have the career that I’ve had, give them that solid base and help them to progress if they want to, then that’s alright with me. I still enjoy it here after 31 years later and plan to continue for a little while longer!”

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