Case studies

"I do feel valued and appreciated here and I feel like I can make a difference."

What does your job involve?

I look after children who have cardiac failure due to congenital/acquired conditions or who are recovering following cardiothoracic surgery. My patients are from preterm babies to older adolescents.

Patients are allocated a named intensivist when they have been in the Unit for two weeks and this is a nice job, allowing me to develop a deeper relationship with a particular family, ending when they leave critical care.

I’m the Lead for Paediatric Ventricular Assist Device therapy, Palliative Care and teaching, and have a special interest in pain and sedation, staff support and holistic care.

I’m also involved with VAD research, family education and new therapies.

What attracted you to Newcastle?

All the boxes are ticked! Beautiful countryside that is so easy to get to. I live 0.5km from a fabulous blue flag beach, and if I run 3km I can watch seals in their natural habitat and there are tons of cycling routes and places to go with the family.

25 minutes on the Metro and I’m in the buzzing city centre with a load of places to go, excellent shopping and arts/culture/music venues.

It’s great for families and the weather is much nicer than I expected!

What do you love about your job?

A great mix between acute/high pressure medicine, diagnostic challenge and more straightforward short-stay patients. Access to whatever technology I need.

Widespread support across the team for new initiatives and the autonomy to make the best decisions for our patients. We see many patients awake and playing - in contrast to many intensivists!

I do feel valued and appreciated here and I feel like I can make a difference.

What opportunities has working for this Trust given you?

I have always had great support from the Trust. Consultants are well provided-for and rewarded for the work they do. There is a good attitude in the management and everyone matters.

I’ve bought a nice bike (tax-free) and I’m able to attend training and conferences. Several charities offer their support and I’ve been trained in educational supervision, patient safety, research etc and been encouraged to follow all of my interests

Your proudest/most satisfying moment so far?

It’s always lovely when families appreciate the work you’ve done. They know that to push the boat out for their child sometimes means doing something new and brave. I’m humbled to accept thanks on behalf of the whole team.

I also feel satisfaction when I support others in the team to achieve something for themselves- a research project or a new skill. A nurse who came to me upset after the death of a child she was looking after is now part of the PICU bereavement team.

Tell us about any travel and/or unusual aspects of the job

Most of my job is just as you would expect, looking after intensive care patients, however, there’s a range of new devices available to support the circulation of a child so I’ve learned about everything from bearings to coding!

Regarding travel, it’s important to attend international conferences and participate in European and global forums, representing the specialist work we do in Newcastle as one of only two paediatric heart transplant centres.

What are your usual working hours?

I have three children and work full time. Despite this, I can manage my work quite flexibly to get a day off each week and most weekends off. Currently there are two Consultants on duty each weekday so there’s always someone around to bounce ideas off and help out when it’s particularly busy.

We hand over to the evening Consultant at 5:00pm so most of my evenings are free too. I’m on-call overnight once or twice a week.

We have all our main meetings on a Wednesday so that helps me organise my time.

What training/experience and qualifications are needed for your job?

Clearly a good period of training in PICM and being confident with cardiac patients is necessary. I had done a fellowship in Melbourne too which I would call an ‘introduction’ to ECMO, VAD and transplant.

There was a lot more to learn when I arrived here! I was well-supported and quickly got up to speed. You have to meet a challenge head on and be happy to admit what you don’t know. 

I can’t stress enough what I fantastic team I am part of.

There is plenty of additional training on offer locally and well-developed guidelines. We are lucky to have such approachable local experts - they are invaluable, as well as support from Newcastle University.