Mat’s dedication, knowledge, and experience allowed him to climb the HUC ladder, and now, as a Clinical Workforce Manager, he is part of a team that oversees the Clinical Assessment Service (CAS), specifically he is the clinical navigator line manager and a point of contact for telephone triage GPs. “I’m overseeing the operation, and there’s always improvements needed – I have to analyse data, rewrite working practices. Mat likes tackling challenges head-on, “I enjoy finding ways to fix problems, learning from investigations on how things went wrong and how they could be improved.”
Despite the obstacles, Mat has had many proud moments, like speaking at the 2016 Pathways National Forum. “They invited me to Manchester, and I spoke about being a Clinical Advisor and highlighted the exceptional clinical workforce to the administrators behind Pathways.”
More importantly, he cherishes small victories that reassure his impact. “Once, a colleague passed me a note saying, ‘You’re being so kind’ while I was dealing with a patient call. After a decade and a half in the challenging healthcare field, I’d managed to retain kindness.”
When asked about considering the Clinical Advisor role, Mat responded, “It’s a great opportunity to change the pace and prioritise yourself because frontline work is for the young and fit. There comes a point where you need other opportunities, and the Clinical Advisor role gets you into an organisation offering different clinical paths without the physical toll.”
He praised the flexibility, too. “I enjoy the freedom to manage my own workload and identify the problems I think need focus. As a team, we have the whole telephone triage service in the palm of our hands. HUC allowed me, as an emergency care clinician, to transition into urgent and primary care settings, which is a rare opportunity.”
Mat’s journey has been one of incredible resilience and dedication, and we are proud to have such a colleague at HUC! Thank you, Mat!
