How I came to work at St Mary’s - Part One

Today I am going to begin to tell you the story of how I came to work at St Mary’s Hospital.

It all started with a small career break in Kenya due to family circumstances. 

I returned back to the UK in 2005 and started working at Brent PCT. 

It was all going well but I was beginning to get itchy feet and wanted to progress my career further when in 2009, suddenly, I saw an advert in NHS Jobs about a position at Westminster PCT. 

I had worked as a locum with this Trust when I had first qualified, and my then mentor was now head of the department. I felt quietly confident to take the plunge.

I applied for the job, and was hired in September 2009, by Westminster PCT (now Central London Community Healthcare Trust - CLCH) and seconded to set up an Inpatient Podiatry Service at St Mary’s Hospital. It was a completely new service, and I was advised by my manager, that it was a blank canvas – which I could fill how I liked, as long as the Inpatient Service was set up and running efficiently. 

As part of my remit, I could choose 2 areas of specialisms and, as I had a keen interest in Biomechanics, I approached the Foot & Ankle Orthopaedic Consultant, and Care of the Elderly Consultant, who ran a Specialist Falls Clinic, were the most obvious choices.

Setting up the Inpatient Service was a daunting task as well as a highly enjoyable one. I was one of two podiatrists who had been hired and it initially seemed like a mammoth task to set up the services. St Mary’s hospital, also had a high risk podiatry team, also seconded from Westminster PCT but that had been established for a few years now but had no capacity to take on the new remit.

In the next instalment I will tell you how we set up this new service.