Publish date: 12 March 2024
March 11 - 15 is Healthcare Science Week, bringing together more than 50 scientific specialisms and professional groups to celebrate and raise awareness of this diverse NHS workforce.
This week we are profiling some of the colleagues who work in this important area and today we meet Clare Ellis...
What is your name, role and where is your place of work?
Clare Ellis, Director of Clinical Professionals for the Clinical Support Division and Lead Healthcare Scientist at Blackpool Teaching Hospital.
Describe a day in the life of your role
For most of my day I am involved with Divisional activities. As a Biomedical Scientist I have particularly strong links with Pathology which sits in the Clinical Support Division. In my role as Lead Healthcare Scientist I liaise with the healthcare science services and leads across the Trust. There are a number of HCS services across a number of Divisions: Pathology, Cardiology, Audiology, Medical Photography, Perfusion, Sleep and Respiratory, Neurophysiology, Gastrointestinal Physiology and Medical Engineering.
I lead the HCS Forum at Blackpool Teaching Hospital and also represent the services at the North West regional meetings as well as being involved in workstreams which are specific to specialist healthcare scientist led services. I am also involved in supporting our teams with applications and accrediation for STP and HSST roles as well as workforce planning workstreams. One of my priorities is to support and raise the profile of our Healthcare Scientist workforce across the organisation and further afield.
What do you enjoy most about your role?
I am fairly new to the role of Lead Healthcare Scientist and one of the best aspects has been meeting all of the Healthcare Science service leads and departments. It’s been absolutely fascinating to understand more about each of services and the patients they serve, as well as the people that work within them. There is such a huge variety of professions within the Healthcare Science umbrella at Blackpool Teaching Hospitals and it’s a great opportunity to learn from and support one another.
What was your career path to the position you’re in now?
I started my career as a Biomedical Scientist in Microbiology in the PHLS and then the NHS. After a number of years I took a role as the Pathology Quality Manager. This was a great opportunity to learn about the other disciplines in Pathology. I then took the role of Clinical Support Services Quality and Governance Manager, which still included working closely with Pathology but also some additional services. Attendance at various Trust Committees gave me some more exposure to the wider Trust and services within it. My next role was as Pathology Directorate Manager, which gave me wider experience of operational and team management.
What is your biggest achievement to date?
Running Path Lab throughout the covid pandemic felt like a huge achievement not only for me but for all of the teams involved. There was a mammoth effort to introduce covid tests into the lab and also to develop new ways of working in nearly every discipline. Having said that I am also very proud to hold the role as one of our Triumvirate Directors and as Lead Healthcare Scientist. I feel grateful to be in this position where I can highlight the important role our Divisional teams and Healthcare Science teams play in patient care.
Anything else you’d like to add?
The Healthcare Science professions have really developed over the years, particularly with routes of entry into the professions, and once in a post there are a variety of opportunities to develop either professional expertise or into a leadership position. From starting out as a Trainee Biomedical Scientist I’ve been fortunate to have had a really interesting and varied career. One of the highlights has been meeting and working with our fantastic teams. There is no doubt that working in the NHS can be challenging but it’s really clear that there are so many people in my organisation that are absolutely passionate about the services they provide and the positive impact we all have on our patient population.
If you'd like to know more about working in Healthcare Science, please see this page for more information Healthcare science | Health Careers
