Bridie is an administration apprentice working in the NHS at Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust. She is completing a Level 3 Business Administrator Apprenticeship qualification while working in the Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm (AAA) Screening Service at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
What does Bridie’s role involve?
Bridie’s role is vital for keeping the AAA screening service running smoothly. She helps with many tasks every day, such as:
- Closing Clinics: This means looking at what happened in the clinics the day before and following up on anything that needs to be done for patients. Bridie generates letters from each clinic to send to the GP Surgeries.
- Answering Phone Calls: Patients often call with questions, to rearrange appointments, or to ask for advice. Bridie listens carefully, gives them the information they need, and helps them feel at ease.
- Preparing for Clinics: Bridie gets everything ready for the next day’s clinics, like organising letters, checking emails, and making sure all the information is up to date.
- Data Processing: She makes sure important details about the clinics are recorded correctly.
While doing all this, Bridie is also studying for her NVQ (National Vocational Qualification), which helps her learn skills she can use in her job every day.
Supporting patients across a wide area
The AAA screening service doesn’t just cover Gateshead. It runs clinics in over 55 locations across the North East, Cumbria, Lancashire, North Yorkshire, and Teesside. Bridie has worked hard to learn about all these areas so she can help patients get to the right clinic at the right time. Talking to patients isn’t always simple. Sometimes people are nervous about their appointments, and Bridie’s kind and understanding manner makes a big difference. She reassures them and answers their questions, helping them feel more comfortable.
Teamwork and support
Bridie works in a small team that supports her every day. She says:
If there’s something I’m unsure about, my team is always there to help. They’ve also been great with my NVQ studies because they have so much experience I can learn from.
Bridie’s projects
As part of her NVQ, Bridie is working on a final project to improve patient satisfaction surveys. This project looks at three different ways to collect feedback:
- Helping patients complete surveys in person after their appointments.
- Sending surveys by post for patients to return.
- Using text messages so patients can fill in surveys by phone.
This project will help the AAA screening service get better feedback from patients without adding extra work for clinical staff. It also helps Bridie develop her skills and move forward in her career.
Bridie has also achieved success with another project that has improved the service for people with physical or learning disabilities. She created a short set of questions to find out if patients need extra support or specific arrangements for their appointments. This ensures everyone can access the service in a way that works best for them.
Working with other services
The AAA screening service works closely with other parts of the NHS, like vascular clinics, GP practices, stop-smoking services, healthy eating programmes, and the Waiting Well service. This teamwork helps patients get the support they need to stay healthy.
Why Bridie’s role matters
Bridie’s work shows how important administration roles are in the NHS. By supporting patients, helping her team, and working on projects that improve the service, Bridie is making a real difference. She is also building a strong foundation for her future career, aiming to become a qualified screening technician one day.
For anyone thinking about an apprenticeship, Bridie’s story shows how rewarding it can be to learn and work in the NHS.