For this week’s What Do You Do article, we’d like to introduce you to Charlotte Whalley who has just joined us as Head of Performance for 111 West Midlands.
Based at our Birchfield House base in Oldbury, Charlotte has only been with us for a matter of weeks, starting at the beginning of July but bringing with her a wealth of experience working in Advice Centres. We caught up with her to find out, in her own words, a little bit more…
“I worked for the AA for 12 years before becoming involved in setting up a contact centre for online players which gave me quite an insight into what makes an Advice Centre work efficiently. I was heavily involved in recruitment, setting up the centre structure, organising how it would operate in terms of providing the help needed by those calling. Alongside my work with the AA, I have seen how an effective Advice Centre works both from the perspective of an advisor and from the more technical side.
“For me, the one thing missing from both jobs was a sense of purpose and fulfilment. I also wanted to move away from the private sector and due to my background, knowledge and skill set being firmly rooted in advice and calls, 111 seemed like an obvious choice for me.
“Exciting times!”
“I had been thinking about looking at roles in the NHS or police, which was when I saw this role. I did my research on DHU and at the time I applied in February, the organisation was just about to take on the West Midlands contract which I found interesting. It seemed like a good time to be joining, to be part of something that’s growing and developing and playing a leading part in that; an exciting time!
“I may have only been here a matter of a few weeks, but I have done my training so know about DHU, it’s values and how the service works. I already feel that I have made the right decision as I have that feeling of achievement and being proud of what I’m a part of which is what I was looking for. It’s about knowing that everything we do and the decisions we make are done with the patient experience in mind. Even if we perform a role that doesn’t have direct patient contact, we have that same impact from the contributions we make. Just look at the Resource Planning Team and the award they got for implementing the Workforce Management system last year. We all make a difference to each other and our patients and that really matters to me.
“Empathy through shared experience”
“In terms of my plans for the role and what I intend to do? I’m taking my regular pathways training because if I want to understand the performance related issues that we potentially face, I need to know what it’s like to perform as a Health Advisor. That way I can understand any underlying reasons for people leaving, sickness and absence, what the pressures are and what people enjoy. I think that will teach me a lot and it’s much easier to empathise if you have that shared experience.
“On the surface it’s an unusual time to come in. I’m new to an organisation that’s new to the 111 service in the West Midlands so we all have to fit in effectively. It’s about collaboration and I want to see our West Midlands team become more integrated into DHU in a wider sense and not to be seen as the newbies. Many of this team have been providing a 111 service for longer than some Health Advisors based at Derby, Chesterfield or Leicester, just not necessarily with DHU. We are a collective service and perform as DHU, one of the largest 111 providers in the country, so that’s my aim…to bring us closer together.”