Hire to retire with the NHS - my story

Hi I’m Lynn, service delivery manager for NHS Jobs.

I’ve been part of the NHS Jobs team since August 2018 having joined on a secondment from our HR Shared Services team. I’ve joined an expanding team working closely with Nicola Dickinson and Sarah Francis (other service delivery managers) to ensure that the NHS Jobs, our national online recruitment service for the NHS in England and Wales is available and continues to improve.

I bring my operational experience from my many years in HR, so I hope I can add value having been a recruiter on the system.

Hire to retire?

Well… not quite, but it has been a long time. I’ve worked for the NHS for 26 years, starting at the Royal Victoria Infirmary and the Freeman Hospitals in Newcastle. I joined the HR team at the NHSBSA in 2000 and I’ve seen a lot of changes in the way we work, and some return to how we have worked before. What I would say, is that the overriding constant is the pace of the increase in technology, it feels like we’re always running to catch up.

I’m sure you’re wondering why I've stayed working for the NHS...

The work-life balance that I’ve experienced as a working mother (flexitime, job share, annual leave allowances and being able to increase my hours as my children grew up)
The variety of roles I’ve worked in, I’m constantly learning, and never bored!
Opportunities for progression
Knowing that I may not be frontline NHS, but I do make a difference
Have face-to-face patient contact whilst I worked at the hospitals is very different to what I do now - but no less rewarding.
The back-office of the NHS sometimes gets bad press but, if we don’t get recruitment into the NHS right then how would we manage to get staff to treat our patients?

What am I proud of?

I’m lucky to say that I’m proud of and take pride in lot of the work I’ve done over the last 26 years but the following really stand out:

Being chosen to type (on a word processor using WordPerfect 5.1) the application process for the Royal Victoria Infirmary to be an NHS Trust back in 1991…..just look what we have now in Newcastle Hospitals
Having three children (in 5 years) and returning to work (eventually full-time) whilst keeping up with the changes that inevitably happened. Maternity benefits increased from 1998 to 2003 so then did my ability to have longer periods at home with my babies, so adjusting to change is pretty natural for me.
Being responsible for setting up a transactional team as part of a new HR Shared Service function within the NHSBSA, prompted by a major restructure of the NHS in 2013.

What excites me about my position as a service delivery manager for NHS Jobs

Growing the service within the NHSBSA brings great opportunities and we’re utilising more areas across our business to allow us to improve our current service which is great.
Engaging with current and future users allows me to really understand our user needs. I’ve been attending operational meetings and user groups, presenting to HR teams throughout the NHS on what we currently offer and how the future service will look.
Working alongside the Digital Project team is really interesting and seeing how skilled they are at taking user needs to build a prototype shows we have some amazing skills within our team.
Understanding more about the project as it progresses to build our new service and learning about agile project delivery. It’s great learning a new language - iterate is my new favourite word!

Our purpose is to become “a catalyst for better health”, to reflect our strategic ambition to play an active role in bringing NHS partners together with us to improve the overall efficiency of the NHS.

I can honestly say that I believe NHS Jobs is an important part, and example of making this happen. I’m proud to be a part of it.

If you’ve got any questions on any of the above, please email: nhsbsa.nhsjobs@nhs.net, visit the NHS Jobs website, or follow us on Twitter for the latest hints, tips and news about the service.