“I am the Deputy Transport Manager for the Trust, based at York.  My job involves oversight for the Transport Department, which was established to support the Trust with its various and numerous transportation needs.

“When someone asks me what do we do, it’s easier to start with what don’t we do.  The department employees 30 drivers and we deliver and collect a range of items each day - from blood samples, post, stores, food, beds and furniture - to medical records.  Come what may, the team visits 270 premises a day, working 7days a week, across over the whole of North Yorkshire.  Last year we drive over 465 thousand miles.

“The department has over 25 vehicles including a HGV.  The latest addition to the department is the Mobile Chemotherapy Unit which we drive and set up at different Trust sites each day - and that’s no mean feat as this is the biggest chemotherapy HGV unit in the UK.  The drivers have had to pass three tests to gain the qualifications needed to allow them to drive the unit, along with extra training to set it up each day.

“Before I joined the Trust I was a motorcycle instructor for 15 years.  I started working for the Trust in February 2010 as a part-time pathology collection driver, so that I could look after my daughter until she started school and I’m proud that my job enabled me to do that.

“When people think about careers in the NHS they don’t often think about the activity that goes on behind the scenes but our role is essential in keeping the wheels turning in such a large, complex organisation.” #NHS70 #facesoftheNHS