Profile of Celia, our St Neots' Clinical Support Worker
Clinical support worker Celia has a unique dual role at St Neots, combining her work as receptionist with phlebotomy.
Celia, who, along with receptionist Sue, is one of the longest serving employees at Eaton Socon, having worked there for 27 years. She was asked to train as a phlebotomist years ago. Since then she has taken thousands of blood samples and enjoys the variety of her work.
She said: 'I work two days as a phlebotomist and two days in my role as receptionist. It is quite nice as the roles overlap so, when I am doing a blood test, I may be asked about reception things like using the online appointment system which I can explain to patients. I like the mix of roles and can't choose between them.
'When I first started it involved a huge amount of manual work and filing as you had to physically pull patients' notes off the shelves. We are now on the third or fourth IT system and I used to do the data entry, coding of letters and prescriptions.
'The role of the receptionist has definitely changed and it is important that you have a range of experience when you are patient facing. My advice to anyone working on reception is to answer the phone with a smile on your face as it is evident when you speak and that comes across to patients, even when you are wearing a mask. When I first started I never imagined that I would be here so many years later but I enjoy my role and helping the patients.'