Long Service Awards

Estates and Facilities must be a very happy team, if the Long Service Awards are anything to go by – five members of the department have each celebrated more than 30 years' service at the Trust.

 

Last Friday, a large number of staff gathered in the Hexagon to celebrate the Long Service and Retirement awards.

 

Mary Archer, the chairman, said it was a "bittersweet" celebration for having to farewell 33 staff, and pointed out that the total number of years worked by those present amounted to 4,590 years; the retirees alone had given more than 500 years of service to the Trust.

 

"Trusts and the NHS sometimes worry about staff turnover, but by comparison the turnover here is negligible," she said. "Staff who come and stay and learn and grow are very important to the Trust, and make these hospitals what we are today."

 

Gareth Goodier, the chief executive, added: "Without the hard work and dedication of so many years of service, this hospital would not be what it is today. It is sustained by all your collective expertise, and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts."

 

Among those who attended were:

 

 

Denise Maltby, Technician, Inpatient Pharmacy

How long have you been here?
I started at Fulbourn 38 years ago as a trainee straight out of school.

 

What's the best part of the job?
I enjoy talking to patients; at Fulbourn it was challenging but they were lovely people.

 

How has it changed over the years?
It's more patient-oriented now, which obviously is a change for the better. The regulations are stricter, the quantities more exact – patient safety has become more of a priority.

 

What are the challenges of the job?
The paperwork, and the targets. There's more pressure. Patient expectations are higher – and there's nothing wrong with that.

 

 

Andrew Neville, Ground Staff, Estates and Facilities

How long have you been here?
33 years – I started on 16 June 1975 – it only seems like yesterday.

 

What's the best part of the job?
It enables me to be of assistance to the public – if people are in distress, I try to help by talking to them in a friendly way.

 

How has the job changed over the years?
I started out driving tractors around the site, when it was in the early days of development and looked like a land fill site. For the past 15 years, I've been in more of a grounds maintenance role.

 

What are the challenges of the job?
The work is constant, and standards have to be maintained.

 

 

Erich Zammer, lead orthopaedic technician, plaster room

How long have you been here?
34 years - I was a porter for two years, then I became a plasterer in 1978. I'm proud to have worked here; the Trust has been good for me, but I've been good for them. I'll be here as long as they'll have me!

 

What's the best part of the job?
The patients, of course! You see different people every day, and you never know what's going to come through the door.

 

How has it changed over the years?
The materials are much better, there's more off-the-shelf appliances. Not everyone goes in a cast now.

 

What are the challenges of the job?
All the administrative stuff. Also, the public are certainly more knowledgeable than before, more ready to question. People are not as patient as they used to be – expectations are higher, and why not? We can deliver a great service.

 

 

Linda Heath, biomedical scientist, Cytology

How long have you been here?
I retired in March this year, but had been at CUH for 13 years. I studied biomedical science at UEA and started in transfusion before retraining in cytology.

 

What was the best part of the job?
Finding abnormal smears – it's both professionally interesting and it means you're sending someone for treatment before it gets too bad.

 

How has it changed over the years?
We've been through big changes. It used to be that the person who took the smear would prepare the slide; now the cells are suspended in a fluid, and the slide is prepared at the lab in Newmarket. It cuts down waste and the number of inadequate smears and is easier to screen. The lab is in control of the slides.

 

What are your post-work plans?
I'm just enjoying not doing too much at the moment, actually! I've been looking after my grandson and doing a bit of travel. We'd love to take a trip to New Zealand.

 

 

 

 

 

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