A wide range of improvements and a new appointment system for patients attending the venesection clinic, is the legacy of Catherine Clark who recently retired from nursing after 44 years.
She started her career as an auxiliary nurse in the former Southern General Hospital in Glasgow and trained as an enrolled nurse 1981 – 1983, working until her son arrived in 1985. In the 1990s she worked mostly night shifts in the former Stirling Royal Infirmary and in 2000 undertook a conversion course at the University of Stirling to become a staff nurse. After taking time off to look after her husband, she returned to nursing, this time in day medicine where she worked for 18 years.
Catherine came up with her plan to improve local day medicine services at Forth Valley Royal Hospital three years ago. With the help of consultant colleagues, she increased the number of appointments available and also created a pathway to allow some people to use the blood transfusion service for their treatment which helped free up hospital appointments.
Catherine also received lots of positive feedback from local patients on the Care Opinion website stating how much the venesection clinic had improved their lives with the availability of appointments and continuity of care.
