Committed to our People
At HUC, we are committed to helping our colleagues achieve their professional goals and to progress in their careers. A recent example is our Commercial Coordinator Christina Gunapalan, who completed a project management course which has taken her project planning skills to the next level.
Now a key member of our Commercial team, Christina initially joined HUC in 2016 as an NHS 111 Call Handler. Over the years, she progressed to Out of Hours Service Manager, before first leaving and then re-joining HUC. In her time away, she worked as a Care Market Manager, which is what piqued her interest in the commercial field.
“I carried out a lot of research and scanning of the market. I looked at how Clinical Commissioning Groups would be transitioning to Integrated Care Boards and wrote papers on the difficulties the health and social care sectors were facing. Working closely with CCGs and building a picture of the upcoming healthcare market is what gave me insights into the commercial side of the business” she says.
As a Commercial Coordinator, Christina supports HUC’s expansions into new service types and geographical areas. “A big part of my role is managing the pipeline and identifying opportunities and managing the processes around bids. I really enjoy getting involved and managing the tender trackers, meaning I support the project plan and liaise with different stakeholders,” Christina explains.
Over time, Christina has become more hands-on with areas previously overseen by others, which is what led her to completing a Prince 2 Agile Project Management course. “I like having an overview of the bid, into who is involved and the different stages. This sparked conversations with my manager, Vicki, on how I could develop a career within the commercial field and how completing a project management course would help me achieve this. Vicki was very supportive and helped me look into different courses that would be most beneficial for me,” she continues.
