In every organisation, there are some people who go the extra mile as part of their day to day work – Angela Hook doesn’t just go the extra mile, she completes a marathon.
Angela, 58, from Cradley Heath, is a ward clerk on D25 at City Hospital. She is also Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust’s Employee of the Year.
Angela, who has been in her role for around three years, said: “I take calls from patient’s families, I help with appointment bookings, filing paperwork and anything I can do to support the nursing staff, which is anything that I can do to give them more time to help patients and make their lives easier.”
This is isn’t the first job Angela has held in the Trust. She said: “I started at Rowley Regis Hospital as a ward service officer 14 years ago, following that I became a monitoring officer and had a management secondment for six months.
“The secondment didn’t work for me as I wanted to get back to the frontline so I applied to be the ward clerk. I like to meet the patients.”
In September last year, Angela was awarded with the Employee of the Year prize at the Trust’s Staff Awards. From there her year has been filled with other responsibilities, including judging this year’s awards.
She said: “It was amazing, as a ward clerk you don’t expect to be acknowledged so it was a really nice feeling. From when the nominations came out I had people stopping me in corridors to tell me they had voted and people sending me emails of support. It has been a really nice year and is the highlight of my career.”
What helped swing the vote in Angela’s favour is that not only does she do her job to a high standard, but she finds time to get to know patients.
She said: “I think it is lovely. When you see somebody who comes in who is really poorly, and you get to know them, and then can tell the family that they are coming home is a good feeling. I find time to chat to patients and get to know them; I also get to know their families by speaking to them on the phone.
“I think that when you are somewhere that is so huge like a hospital, it is nice to give people time one to one so they feel that their care is more personal.”
Angela is still driven to work on the frontline of healthcare every day, and enjoys the variety her role brings.
She said: “Every day is different; there is always somebody who wants help, and that’s why I love frontline working. You do similar tasks but you never know about what a patient’s background and needs are and they always need something different.
“We are really lucky to have the NHS. I hope it carries on in the form that it is in.”
Away from work Angela spends time with husband Michael, son Nick, and her daughter Lydia, who has recently had three month old twins Arthur and Cecily. She also enjoys camping, visiting VW fairs and watching tennis and football.
