Behind the scenes – Phil Churchill

This week EOC Training Lead Phil Churchill is in the ‘behind the scenes’ spotlight.

Phil has worked with the ambulance service for 17 years and is based in Hellesdon, but didn’t also work in the EOC……

Hi Phil, my first question is, what made you want to work for the ambulance service 17 years ago?
I had been interested in joining the ambulance service or the police from a young age. With my mum being an accident and emergency nurse, I developed an interest for the health service.

Tell us a bit about your time in the ambulance service
I started working in EOC after four years as an ambulance technician at Cambridge. I really enjoyed the patient-facing aspect, but equally enjoyed my roles as a dispatcher and then part of the training team. I really enjoyed seeing call handlers who I had been working with taking their first 999 call; however much you prepare someone, it’s quite a daunting situation!

What do you do as part of your job role?
I work to support the trainers in their course delivery.  This is the main part of our role but there’s a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes to ensure that the training material is current and that we can evidence what has been taught in each course.

What do you enjoy most about your job?
Meeting new members of staff, finding out what brought them into this role, and what their perception of the service is.

What do you think is the biggest challenge facing the Trust at the moment?
The increase in call volume that we have been unable to match with increases in personnel (whether they be EOC staff or patient facing staff) undoubtedly has put phenomenal pressure on us as a Trust.

If you had the power, what one change would you make to the Trust?
Standardising the way we work across the six counties.

What motivates you when it comes to working for the Trust?
The way that we all try to maintain patient care even when we are going through the bleakest of times!

Out of our Trust values (respect, care, teamwork, quality, honesty), which is most important to you, and why?
Care. I think we all joined the ambulance service because we want to care.

Looking into the future (with our EEAST crystal ball!), where would you like to see yourself in 10 years?
Still being in a role within our Trust that nurtures and develops our staff.

Tell us something people might not know about you?
When I worked at Cambridge station I trialled the use of a Smart car RRV for two days based in the centre of Cambridge. Lots of members of the public enjoyed commenting, for example ‘you need a trailer for the patient’, ‘I knew times were tough but that’s ridiculous’, and a very lovely elderly lady who said ‘never mind dear, when you grow up they’ll give you a bigger one’!

What was your first job?
I had a Saturday job working on the tills in a garden centre in Great Amwell. That was back in the days when we had ½ penny pieces in circulation and I earned £1.87 per hour!

If you’d like to be our next ‘behind the scenes’, or there’s someone in your team who you’d like us to highlight, please get in touch with tara.rose@eastamb.nhs.uk and/or hollie.cowan@eastamb.nhs.uk.

Published 18th February, 2017