Senior Biomedical Scientist / Pathology Quality Management Officer

International Day of Women and Girls in Science

I was born in the UK then, at the age of 7, we moved to Malawi, then Swaziland (now Eswatini) and Zambia while schooling in South Africa. I trained there as a Medical Technologist in Clinical Pathology. Healthcare in South Africa is quite different than in the UK. It’s mostly private healthcare, so there is a mix of small multi-disciplinary labs in the hospital settings with a few larger hub-type labs in non-clinical settings where the bulk of routine work is processed.  

I returned to the UK about 18 years ago. When I left South Africa, I was a Regional Manager and had experience in Haematology, Biochemistry and Microbiology. My first job in the UK was as a biochemistry locum in a hospital in Kent. Once I received my licence to practice as a biomedical scientist, I was offered a permanent position. I then moved over to haematology in the same lab where I had the opportunity to learn about blood transfusion and registered myself to do a specialist certificate in transfusion science practice.  

I then decided to apply for a job at Hammersmith hospital in London, the home of haematology. Here I was able to learn to do many more specialised tests and see examples of a vast variety of different haematological abnormalities. I was also privileged to work with some of the most knowledgeable people I will ever meet in my profession. By the time I left, I was working at St Mary’s hospital (same laboratory group) as the senior scientist for special haematology, testing for abnormal haemoglobins and red cell enzymes. 

Following that, my husband and I decided to move to beautiful Wales and I transitioned to work in Quality. I’m now a Quality Management Officer for CTM’s Pathology department and have been in this role for the past two years. This role also allows me to be multi-disciplinary again as I work with all of the Pathology departments. CTM hosts laboratories across two different hospital sites (Royal Glamorgan and Prince Charles) so I tend to spend two days a week at each site and then one day a week working from home. My role involves auditing, compliance with international and local standards, writing policies and assisting laboratories with whatever I can help them with. This could include writing or reviewing procedures, investigating incidents, sorting out health and safety issues, temperature monitoring, training and induction for new staff or data analysis - no two days are the same.  

I enjoy being able to help people and being in a position to make positive changes and see the effect of those changes. Often when you’re working on the bench in the laboratory, you can see what changes need to be made but you’re too busy to make those changes yourself. However, when I’m in the lab doing audits, I can see where improvements are needed, speak to the scientists in the lab, find out what would work, take theirs and my suggestions to meetings and then make changes to improve both the work place and patient safety.  

This role has also allowed me to escape shift work. I’m a morning person so not well suited to being awake all night! However, I sometimes miss working in a laboratory and find it frustrating that there are not more routine lab roles available that don’t involve shift work.  

The main challenge I have faced in my career is the fear of standing up, talking and delivering presentations (although I’m pleased to say I’m over that now, through sheer repetition). I’d also get rid of all telephones because they interrupt your workflow and break your concentration, but that’s just me!   

This is a career where your more experienced colleagues train you and then you cascade that training as you gain experience and newer people join your department - we are constantly either being trained or delivering training. Constant change may seem a challenge or barrier to some but, for me, it is the best thing about our profession. Science does not stand still - it is constantly evolving and improving. New equipment, new tests, new IT, new ways of working and new people. 

My advice to any other women or girls looking to move into a role like mine is to make sure the university you attend offers an accredited degree. You should also contact your local laboratory and ask for a walk about, especially if you have a job interview lined up.  

The biomedical science profession probably has the greatest proportion of women of all the sciences - in a career that is now 29 years old I have never worked in a laboratory that has more men than women. 

You need to be a hard worker and a team player to get on well in this profession. Healthcare, in general, is 24/7 so it’s not for the faint hearted, but it is rewarding and never boring. At 54 years of age, I’m pretty happy with how my career has gone so far. I’m not in a hurry to find any new adventures yet as I’ve only been in my current role for two years so there’s still plenty to learn here. I will continue to love looking down the microscope at people’s blood, trying to figure out what ails them. Biomedical scientists are a geeky bunch really but, on the whole, we’re a happy family.