Ian has worked in the Trust since the summer of 2007. He originally started as Bank admin staff. On the bank he was based in the pharmacy reception and really liked the challenge that came along with dealing with both staff and patients. After around 3 months a full-time position as pharmacy receptionist became available and he went for it!
In 2009, Ian became a student pharmacy technician which is a two year training course that allowed him to work in most pharmacy areas associated with UH Bristol and Weston, including the eye hospital, the children’s hospital and on trials.
Over the last five years Ian has been a Medicines Management Technician in the Oncology Centre and he has built up great relationships with Pharmacy, the ward teams and the patients, especially the teenage patients.
Even more recently, over the last few months Ian has been funded to become a Macmillan Pharmacy Technician which will help patients who are just starting chemotherapy.
What is the most rewarding part of your job?
Ian often gives tours of Oncology to the new members of staff and thinks it’s nice to be able to show how they can make a difference to a patient’s experience. There’s a real chance to make the role your own and develop your skills.
Day-to-day, the role itself is reasonably structured – you speak to patients at their bedsides and any queries you get you work out with the doctors and nurses on shift. You also get to help make a difference to the patient’s journey whilst they are in hospital and when they are ready to be discharged.
The Macmillan Medicine Management role is still in its infancy. A lot of research about how to establish a patient’s drug history without needing to bring them into hospital has been carried out. Unfortunately, the patients we see are in the hospital mainly due to their illness so to be able to help reduce further trips in is a great feeling. We’ve just started contacting our first patients and are already seeing promising results from the new service, this will hopefully reduce unnecessary treatment delays and reduce drug interactions.
Ian chose UH Bristol and Weston on the recommendation from a friend who told him of the benefits of working at UH Bristol and Weston and when Ian started in the Trust he quickly became very passionate about what he did and continues to do.
Ian would recommend UH Bristol and Weston to anyone, he is local to the area and loves that there is a lot of culture and history in the city.
