Tell us a little about your job
I am a new Organisational Development and LET Advisor, based in the Learning Centre at FVRH. It’s a new role, split across both Organisational Development and Learning & Education, so I get to have a foot in both camps.
I am new to the world of OD so I’m going to spend some time shadowing my colleagues and learning the ropes. I’m also rolling up my sleeves and getting involved with the next iMatter cycle, as well as managing the fabulous Learning Centre team.
First impressions about your new role?
Never a dull moment! I’m really enjoying getting to know the role, the team, FVRH where I’m based as well as the wider NHS Forth Valley family. There is a lot for me to learn and get involved with however the OD and Learning Centre team are very welcoming, friendly and supportive.
I’m looking forward to attending Staff Events as well as getting involved with iMatter, the move from LearnPro to Turas Learn, and anything and everything in-between!
Your previous career & background?
I went back to university in 2012 when my son was in early primary school and did an MA(Hons) in Philosophy. After that, I went straight into a PGDip in Software Development and started my career as a Learning and e-Support Advisor at NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde where I was responsible for e-learning course development, using LearnPro and LABAdvanced to build training on subjects such as End of Life Care, Learning Disabilities in Emergency Care, MRI Safety, and the conversion of the statutory/mandatory training from classroom-based to digital.
After NHSGGC, I spent a few years working across two charities in Glasgow in an L&D Advisor role, building and maintaining learning management systems and content, as well as developing and delivering classroom-based training (when Covid-19 restrictions would allow!). I gained a lot of experience in my time away from the NHS and was keen to move into a more OD-orientated career path, so I’m thrilled to have joined NHS Forth Valley in this new role.
What is your earliest memory?
Helping my Granny to clean her living room windows with the old thick pink Windolene cream when I was a toddler.
The best decision you have ever made?
Agreeing to go for a quick drink with a guy my flatmate thought I might get on with – eighteen years, one son, and four cats later, I think it was a pretty fab decision!
And the worst?
A multitude of hair disasters across the late 90’s and early 00’s. The photos have been destroyed.
Biggest pet hate?
A wobbly table. Obviously war, famine, and injustice are pretty high on the list of Bad Things No One Likes, but few things annoy me as much as sitting down for a meal or a drink and being stuck with a table that’s wobbling all over the place.
How do you normally spend your weekends?
When I’m not busy making tables across the Central Belt steady with folded up napkins I normally spend most Saturdays as a taxi driver for my fifteen-year-old son, ferrying him around between town and home. Sundays are spent catching up with the chores I’ve ignored for the other six days! When I’m not acting as an unpaid Uber driver, I do like to go out to live music, comedy shows and the cinema as often as I can.
Favourite food?
Cheesecake. Any kind, any flavour, I love it.
Item/s you treasure most?
I was born with bilateral hip dysplasia (although I wasn’t diagnosed until my late twenties). After a lot of joint-preserving surgery which ultimately didn’t work, the decision was made to remove both of the dodgy hips and replace them, so I am now the proud owner of two shiny titanium hip replacements. Since they keep me pain-free and able to shuffle around from A to B, I’d have to say those!
As a time traveller where would you like to land and why?
To paraphrase the great mathematician and chaos-theorist Dr Ian Malcolm (from the classic Jurassic Park), I’d say that this question is preoccupied with whether I could, and it should think more about whether I should – I can just about manage my life in 2022, the last thing the world needs is me poking my nose into the events of the past or the future!!
What’s the secret to being happy?
Not taking myself too seriously, good cheesecake, and great coffee
