Last week I caught up with Trish to ask her some questions about what life has been like working at Wyndham House Surgery for a quarter of a century.
When did you start at Wyndham House Surgery?
I started working at Wyndham House in 1989 doing 12 hours a week, and then gradually increased until Rosanne retired in 2001when I gave up working at Exeter College and took on more hours to become the Lead Practice Nurse. In 2002 I began the Elderly Project which assessed and supported older people to live healthy and independent lives.
There has always been a strong team here who have given me great support. When I started I had not been working for several years and was lacking in confidence, so was very lucky to be encouraged to expand my knowledge and skills. I can remember in my early days, Dr Jonathan Stead asked me to give a talk to hospital consultants, diabetes doctors and GPs at the Postgraduate Medical Centre about the role of the practice nurse in the management of patients with diabetes, I was terrified and my knees shook – it ended up by being very rewarding, and lead me to develop my teaching skills and take on other new challenges.
What were you doing before you started here?
I started my training at Trelisk Hospital in Truro, and then worked in Barbados at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital where I qualified, returned to England and worked on a surgical ward at the West Cornwall Hospital. Subsequently I travelled to Qatar for a short time, working for the WHO. I returned to Devon and was a staff nurse in the trauma unit of the RDE, became a ward sister on the stroke unit and later a clinical nurse teacher in orthopaedics. I lived in Indonesia for several years, where my son was born and had a career break in the early years of his life.
I returned to nursing by getting a part-time practice nurse position at Wyndham House Surgery and soon started to specialise in diabetes care here and at the Diabetes Centre. Later on I worked on some diabetes research projects at the hospital and with Dr Colin Greaves on several community based studies. I also had a half-time position at Exeter College as their college nurse managing a great many minor illness, injuries and contraception clinics. I also became a practice nurse trainer/assessor and lectured in the General Practice Nurse Foundation Programme now run by Plymouth University.
What is the greatest change in patient care since you started?
The nursing role has changed greatly since I trained; we have much more responsibility for disease management, where great progress has been made in the prevention, screening, treatment and management of many long term health conditions. More research has given us the evidence on which to improve our treatments. We have more vaccinations to prevent debilitating diseases, many of which have been eradicated. There is also much more training including an excellent degree level training programme for practice nurses which was developed in Exeter and has now been adopted nationally.
I have seen huge changes in clinical research from the very basic facilities I worked in to the magnificent Research and Development Centre, with many highly equipped Laboratories here in Exeter.
When I started at Wyndham House the medication was all stored in a small cupboard, now we dispense over 6,000 prescriptions a month.
There are also more protocols, guidelines, policies and tighter restrictions on what we do.
What is your most memorable experience?
We have had several patients collapse with heart attacks at the surgery. I can remember once after resuscitating a patient he opened his eyes and asked “Are you an angel?”
What are you proudest of in your time here?
That’s hard, once you set up one thing you move on to the next. I suppose developing the practice nurse role in providing a high standard of diabetes care and management has been very rewarding. I am proud of the Elderly Project, and its offshoots, which has been successful thanks to the generous support from the Friends of Wyndham House. I have also been very involved with developing and teaching on the degree level Practice Nurse Foundation Programme.
Walk and Talk has been very successful, with initial support from Natural England and the recruitment of a team of walk leaders from the local community, and of course it helped me to meet and get to know my husband!
What are you looking forward to in retirement?
Just having more time and living life at a more leisurely pace.
What will you do with your time after retirement?
Well, I want to learn to paint and draw. I shall spend lots of time with my husband, read more and get my large garden into shape. I also plan to do some volunteering – I would like to set up a befriending service for the elderly and a Memory Café in the village. I will be able to do the Tuesday Walk and Talk group and I will carry on helping with the Balance Classes and the SCENE newsletter.
What will you miss most about work?
The team at Wyndham House, who are a cohesive and friendly group, and of course the patients many of whom I have known for many years.