A chance to work behind the scenes at an ambulance workshop sparked a life-long dedication to the NHS for Sam O’Leary.
Sam was just out of school when she started an admin YTS course with her local council, based in the workshop at West Lane Hospital. She immediately felt at home.
More than 30 years on she has helped bring changes to both operational and administrative areas of the NHS – and is now using her experience within prison mental health care too.
“I always knew I didn’t want to be on the nursing side of the NHS, but I did want to help people. I’m proud of the NHS, and I’m proud to work for it. We need to treasure it,” she said.
Found her calling
Sam’s first glimpse of the NHS as a trainee made her long for a permanent job in health care. Once her YTS course ended, however, a lack of funding meant she had to leave.
She spent the next few months working for a car leasing company, but her NHS ambitions never wavered – and she spent her free time firing off applications in an attempt to return to the NHS.
“Finally, in late 1990, I found work at Middlesbrough General Hospital as a clerical officer in the estates department. I was over the moon to get the job, and absolutely loved it,” she said.
“Again, I wasn’t working directly with patients, but I knew I was indirectly supporting them. I was so delighted to actually get a job in health care, and to know I was playing my part.”
Playing her part
Sam quickly won promotion to PA for the deputy director of estates and, in 1991, moved to a new base at Poole Hospital in Nunthorpe – set in the heart of beautiful countryside.
The following year, however, she switched the rural Yorkshire fields for South Cleveland Hospital (now James Cook) – taking on the challenge of PA to the divisional manager of the new cardiothoracic unit.
“It was a newly funded investment programme to set up a heart unit from scratch. It was certainly a challenge, but it was also very exciting with it all being new,” she said.
Sam stayed until 2016, by which time she was admin manager. She then moved to Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust as an amin manager for forensic services.
With a new base at Roseberry Park Hospital, she found the change from acute to mental health “a massive shock to the system” at first.
It was a challenge she was more than willing to rise to, however – throwing herself in to learning about mental health care with a passion.
“From day one I knew I’d made the right the decision – I was just made to feel so at home. It was completely different, new and exciting,” said Sam, 51, who lives near Yarm.
Helping to support others
Sam stayed in forensic services until Secure In-Patients and Health and Justice (H&J) were separated – winning promotion to an operational support manager role during that time.
She is now a business manager for H&J – with overarching responsibility for the admin team, as well as being part of the leadership team and supporting the care group director.
Indeed, she recently helped to support the mobilisation of a new prison contract in Hull and Humber.
“My career in the NHS has been amazing; a real journey. I feel quite proud of what I have achieved, as I left school not knowing what I wanted to do,” she said.
“It was just luck at the beginning when I got onto the healthcare pathway, but it showed me what I wanted to do. I still love the thought that I am helping to support people in my role.”
Living proof that hard work pays off
Sam’s future work plans include supporting tenders for further prison contracts, as well as continuing to champion the Trust’s admin teams and supporting their career progression.
“I’m living proof that if you work hard, you can achieve things – even if you don’t know exactly what you want in life at first,” she said. “I hope others can take inspiration from that.
“I’m very proud of the NHS, what it does for patients and what it does for its staff. I’m so pleased I found what I wanted to do as a teenager, and still love my job all these years later.”
