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We are currently recruiting for a Project Officer to join our Patient Safety Collaborative (PSC) to support its new commission.
In this blog, Nat Riley shares what it is like working as Project Officer and the opportunities she had throughout her role.
To find out more about the other roles we are currently recruiting for to support the new PSC commission visit the join our team page.
I’m Nat Riley and I am a Project Support Officer for the patient safety team at EMAHSN.
Having worked in care homes for many years, I joined the NHS in 2014. I worked my way up through my department before joining the EMAHSN on secondment in 2018. My secondment was initially for six months, the time flew by and when the opportunity arose to apply for a permanent role within EMAHSN, it was an easy decision.
I applied for the Programme Co-ordinator role at the end of my secondment and haven’t looked back. I was nervous coming into the Patient Safety team with no clinical or academic background but I really didn’t need to be nervous. The team are from all backgrounds giving us the ability to learn from each other whilst providing an incredible level of support.
I have had so many opportunities since joining the EMAHSN, not only to use my existing skills but to a chance to build these skills through training and educations opportunities, peer mentoring and experience of supporting a variety of projects across our commission. My experience of working in care homes has been a real benefit and one of my proudest achievements is being a part of winning a national HSJ Patient Safety Award for our work in supporting quality improvement in care homes across the region.
Working within patient safety has ignited a passion for quality improvement I didn’t know I had, it is such a rewarding environment to work in and I have worked hard for the last three years to develop my skills and experience to support others in the system to drive improvement. This wouldn’t have been possible without the opportunities I have been given from working within such an amazing team.
Last year required us to adapt our programmes to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, this has brought new challenges and demands. Despite this, it has never been a better time to join such a dedicated and passionate team!
Nat Riley, Patient Safety Project Support Officer