Meet our AHPs

Rewards of my Role
As a paediatric occupational therapist, being able to make a difference to a child’s and a family’s life is such a privilege. I mostly work with under 5s with complex needs and also in schools. 

 

Caring for children within a multi-disciplinary integrated therapy team means I never stop learning. For example, I may be assessing a child for a specialist chair, but I’ll learn from a speech therapist colleague about key observations when looking at the safety of the child’s swallow. The specialist knowledge I pick up makes me more effective in my role as we learn from each other and take that knowledge when working with other children. It feels good when talking to parents that I understand many factors outside of my remit that play a part in their child’s care and progress, which means that I can take a holistic view.

 

I’ve had the freedom to do courses since joining, including Baby Bobath training and an infant hand assessment course via Great Ormond Street Hospital. I’ve also been fully supported to do the trust’s situational leadership training course and a team coaching course. I’ve never had those opportunities before, but as I often do clinical supervision and line management, they’ve been very helpful for me. Developing both clinically and managerially, I know how important training opportunities are and I have been fully supported to undertake both types of training. This makes a huge difference in how effective I am with supporting others in the team.

 

My manager is the head of service and she is fantastic. In the past, managers have been more operational and hands-off with the team, but she is involved in the day-to-day running and her approach ensures the quality of the service and really makes everyone feel valued.

 

I am supported to develop my skills when being involved with bigger decisions for the service and when needed I am given advice for those smaller queries, for instance, if I have a tricky email to write, there is always someone to check in with and that attention to detail and professionalism is admirable.

 

The other clinical leads in the service are the same – they all want to support each other and every member of the team, no matter the banding or profession they are under.

 

Flexibility

As I have two young children, being able to work part-time and flexibly is really important to me. My colleagues are supportive and understanding about family commitments and it makes my busy role sustainable and manageable.

 

In my previous role my headquarters was based in Essex and when our service was taken over by Whittington Health in February 2022, I wondered if working for a London-based trust would feel overwhelming. However, there is a real family feel here and all the teams across Islington and Haringey communicate well and want to build relationships with us which is brilliant.