Carla Phillips

I joined the mobile blood and transport team in September 2025 where I trained to be a Donor Carer.

My role consisted of health screening potential donors, checking they were able to donate on that day by testing there iron levels in their blood, setting up the donor ready for donation and performing venipuncture to obtain the donation, when the donation process has finished I would remove the needle and barcode all the relevant paperwork and blood packs, pack the donations ready to be transported to the laboratory and ensuring my donor stayed well and comfortable throughout the whole procedure, on regular occasions would assist a donor feeling unwell or fainting.

We worked as a team also having to load a lorry with supplies at the beginning of the day, unloading when we reached our venue and then load up again at the end of the evening.

My time at Happy days was a locum/supply role to step in and assist the Nursery Nurses when there were staff shortages. My role was to care for children aged 6 months to school age, the duties I took were dependant on the room I was in and the age of the children but would involve story telling, taking small groups for creative play, junk modelling, getting the babies to sleep, giving out the dinners and feeding the babies, making sure the children where happy and safe at all times and then finally liasing with other members of the team and the parents at collection time.

I was one of 3 staff members all ready working in the trust who were approached to start a brand new inititive at the time to reduce the waiting times in A&E for the patients sent in as a medical referral from their GP.

The role consisted of working alongside the Medical Doctors on call in the A&E department.

I would have a list of patients expected in and, and an instruction list from the Dr of what tests that patient would need when they first arrive in the dept. These would include, vital observations, blood sampling and send to the lab, cannulation incase IV access is needed, ECG's, ordering relevant xrays, chasing results and liasing with the Dr at all times informing them of the patients current condition and assisting the Dr with further procedures if needed.

I joined MTW NHS trust as a trainee Health Care assistant straight from completing a college course.

I worked on an acute medical ward caring for 32 patients. My role was to

• Assisted elderly residents with daily tasks such as eating, bathing and dressing up for an enhanced quality of life while in hospital.
• Manage personal hygiene of bed-bound patients, maintained dignity and respect at all times.
• Handled challenging behaviour from dementia-affected individuals effectively without resorting to force or intimidation.
• Carry out vital observations including blood pressure, pulse, respiratory rate and temperature.
• Enhanced healing process by changing wound dressings regularly.
• Upheld patient confidentiality at all times whilst performing duties as per data protection norms set down by the NHS.
• Assisted in patient care, improved comfort and well-being.
• Escorted patients for tests or procedures within the hospital premises whilst ensuring their safety and comfort.
• Assisted in all aspects of personal care, retaining comfort and dignity.
• Worked closely with nurses to maintain high levels of communication.
• Monitored client health conditions and reported immediate issues to manager.
• After completeing my NVQ level 1 I then went on to complete NVQ level 2.