Commercial Week Day Two: Grace's story

It’s day two of Commercial Week and it’s over to Grace Mcgregor to tell us about her experience of being a member of the CallEEAST team.

Today, one of the original CallEEAST team members, Grace Mcgregor, tells us what life is really like as part of CallEEAST and how her time there has shaped her future career path.

What did you want to do career wise before joining EEAST?

Before joining EEAST, when I was younger, I only ever focused on performing arts and never thought about the ambulance service. However, that very quickly changed once I started with CallEEAST. I found that almost instantly my career path changed and I began to realise that I belonged within the ambulance service. 

What brought you to EEAST?

I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do career wise, as I was always interested only in performing arts, however I had recently turned down a university offer for the University of Chichester to study performing arts further and the idea of helping others in the community appealed to me. 

What do you enjoy about the role?

Within CallEEAST, I took non-emergency calls from patients arranging EEAST non-emergency ambulance transport to and from hospital for outpatient appointments and patients on renal dialysis. I also took phone calls from hospitals coordinating EEAST non-emergency ambulance transport for patients being discharged, and booking inter facility non-emergency ambulance transport between hospitals when patients needed to attend appointments whilst in hospital or for surgeries. 

CallEAST gave me the opportunity to build my telephone communication skills, gain experience and confidence within customer services and it’s where I started my journey with EEAST. CallEAST provided me with the opportunity to progress my career within the Trust and supported me with my career progression. 

Where are you now?

I was supported with the progression from CallEEAST to EOC, where I predominately took emergency 999 calls alongside emergency transport bookings from HCPs including district nurses and GPS and arranged emergency transport between hospitals when a patient required escalation of care.

Taking emergency 999 calls can be stressful, and fast paced, however it can also be rewarding knowing that you are the first person to provide lifesaving information and advice to the caller and the patient whilst they are awaiting an ambulance to arrive to continue the care.

I thoroughly enjoyed being a call handler within EOC, but a time came where I was inquisitive about the idea of being on the road seeing the patients and their families face to face, so I applied for the role of apprentice emergency medical technician. I have now just completed my apprenticeship on the road as an emergency medical technician, this involves a 12-week training course and 18months – two years on the road working alongside other EMTs, paramedics and emergency care assistants.

Working in CallEEAST and the EOC definitely helped my career and gave me the ability to succeed in my apprenticeship, giving me a wide range of skills in customer service, caring for individuals, teamwork, respect for patients, peers and the community.

If you’re interested and want to find out more about what we do, give us a call on 01603 422858 or email CallEEAST@eastamb.nhs.uk

Don’t forget to come back to NTK tomorrow, when it’s over to our NPAG colleagues to explain how a national NHS initiative fits into the EEAST commercial services family.

Published 18th July 2023