CWA Health and Social Care Alumna, Hayley Footer, shares her story from the frontline. Hayley is a fully-qualified ODP and has been working in ITU department of the QEH since the COVID-19 crisis began.

"I began my diploma in Health and Social Care in 2009 at the College of West Anglia (CWA). I wanted to study towards a career in the health sector, hoping that it would give me a clearer idea of which career path to take.

I thoroughly enjoyed both the practical and theoretical aspects of my course, covering a varied array of subjects, from effective communication, equality and diversity, anatomy and physiology. During my time at the college, we had extremely supportive lecturers and their experience and guidance was invaluable.

While studying, I undertook a work placement at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH), where I first learnt about the job role of an Operating Department Practitioner (ODP). I was instantly captivated by this career path and started to research how I could achieve my goal of becoming an ODP. I gained a place at the Operating Department Practice at the University of East Anglia.

I have now been qualified as a registered ODP for 5 years. I currently work within theatre recovery, caring for immediate postoperative patients emerging from anaesthetic, ranging from paediatrics to high dependency and trauma patients. The best part of my job is that it is extremely rewarding.

The current pandemic of COVID-19 has impacted my job role drastically. Due to the increasing number of patients needing ventilators, our recovery area has been transformed into a second Intensive Treatment Unit (ITU) area. All nurses and ODP’s are rotated to care for ITU patients needing ventilated support, including COVID patients and patients who are critically ill. The ITU nurses leading our shifts are always calm and patient, supporting and guiding us throughout our changing job roles.

Every 13-hour shift presents its own unique challenges. At the beginning, we attend handover, listening to key messages and updates and are allocated our specific patient. 

Since the crisis has affected the hospital, I have seen a real sense of community spirit in between colleagues and a shared sense of closeness to tackle the enormity of the daily challenges we face. I would like to say I am brave and courageous as an NHS frontline worker, but we are all have moments of anxiety, too. However, I can say I honestly feel better when I arrive at work and this is down to the sense of humour and positivity of my valued team members.

I have felt proud of so many of my colleagues, seeing them stay strong and dealing with challenging circumstances has been truly humbling. I feel so grateful to have such skilled clinical staff within our trust and this is definitely something that keeps me going. While we all look forward to a time post-COVID, I am grateful for the little things to be thankful for and the invaluable team that I am proud to be part of."