Why have you spent your nursing career at the Friarage?
I first started working here, in 1985, because I wanted to do my nurse training in a slightly smaller hospital, I did that and I love it that much I stayed.
It’s such a friendly hospital and I love working here.
Over the last 37 years I’ve seen a lot of changes, most of them for the positive and it’s great to see the Friarage growing again in the recent years.
It’s such a lovely thing to see new developments and services at the Friarage.
There’s a really strong community theme here and the patients are just as excited as us by the new services that we have here now, like the renal unit and eye department.
What’s your role with your patients?
As a specialist nurse working in the Friarage’s Scott Suite I work predominantly with patients who are diagnosed with breast cancer, providing support, information and advice, from day of biopsy, then diagnosis results, through all treatments including surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, anti-oestrogen therapy and immunotherapy.
Both me and my colleagues do nurse led clinics, follow patients up for five years after diagnosis, and also review people who have a strong family history of breast cancer and have been through the genetics system.
The Scott Suite is a purpose built breast unit and although we are a small group of staff, we all work well as a team.
This includes specialist radiology staff communicating with each other constantly regarding patients to ensure we are all providing the best service we can for our patients.
There isn’t many specialist nurses at the Friarage but we all meet monthly for updates with our colleagues at The James Cook University Hospital and the lead cancer nurse.
We feel supported by the lead cancer nurse and we have the Sir Robert Ogden Macmillan Centre here, the chemotherapy unit and the breast diagnostic unit.
What’s progression like?
Progression is encouraged here at the Friarage and we are regularly updated with the latest information and opportunities.
What’s life like outside of work?
The local area is stunning; we really are in the ideal spot here because we’re only half an hour away from the coast and 20 minutes away from the Yorkshire Dales.
If you jump on a train you can be in York in around 20 minutes or Newcastle if you go a little further.
It’s just an ideal place for what this lovely area can offer.