ICT – Clinical Applications Team | Celebrating BWC Spirit

By Rebecca Anslow, Application Specialist, ICT – Clinical Applications Team 

What was your experience of the pandemic? 

I think stressful is the only word to use for these past 12 months! With the sudden imposition of “lockdown” the Trust had little to no notice of the massive workload that would hit us trying to arrange remote working for so many people!  

Also, the changes in processes that have had to be put in place to work around the remote working has been a massive challenge for experienced staff, let alone the guys who started just as the pandemic hit and during the pandemic – our team had taken on new staff at the point of Lockdown so we have been training over half of our team during all of this. (Maybe stressful doesn’t cover it) 

What was the hardest part? 

The most challenging thing throughout this pandemic has been trying to get our new team members trained to a level where they can work independently and effectively. With more than half of the team being new members and new to this field ensuring they have the investigative skills to find and fix a lot of the issues that come our way has been really difficult as each issue is different and the only way to learn how to do what we do is by shared experience which is nigh impossible to do remotely. 

How did you cope? 

I’m not sure how to answer this. Simply put: I coped because I had to. I have been the person my team have turned to when they need advice or help on a task as I have the most experience in investigating and rectifying the issue we are coming against. So if I didn’t cope I would be letting my team down and I’m not the type of person who can accept that. Sometimes I take too much on and experience a slight burnout but I have a strong support network outside of work and am prompted to take some annual leave when the signs of this start showing. 

What did you learn? 

I learned that working remotely does not benefit my team and that being together helps spread knowledge and prevents an “Us vs Them” kind of attitude. I cannot wait until the team can be together in the same place again so we can all start to learn from each other and ensure that we are all working the same way. 

How do you think it changed the team? 

The department has become less personal because there is no regular integration. Previous to the pandemic happening we had a good relationship with Tech & Infrastructure and we all used to help each other out regularly. Now there is less interaction. 

Beyond your team, who has inspired you during the pandemic? 

I think the support staff throughout the Trust has been phenomenal. Specifically, Domestics and Housekeeping staff even though they are included under the NHS banner are often overlooked as “cleaners” when they are so much more than that. They have been carrying out their duties daily, being around patients and their families and they have been seeing first-hand the effects of Covid. They are often not offered the same support as clinical staff – especially if a patient passes who they have been around during their ward duties, and this can be quite hard to deal with in normal times – let alone with the added stresses of the pandemic – as hearing about Covid events on the news is different from actually seeing them and I think these support staff have dealt with this whole pandemic with care and grace.