Natasha joined the NHS at 18 as a filing clerk for Cheltenham General Hospital, and has since worked in a variety of roles across provider and commissioning organisations. Her previous roles have included medical secretary, risk co-ordinator, administration manager, project and programme manager and prior to her existing role.
She is responsible for delivering improvement across a range of specialties within an acute trust and the wider system. She has a background across many sectors of the NHS delivering operational and service improvement focusing on quality improvement and system-wide transformational change. She manages eight people ranging from senior service improvement managers to project managers and administration staff.
Natasha says that working in change management can be very challenging as it is vital that we ensure patients are getting the best possible service, in the right place and at the right time.
It is also important to ensure that the services are provided for the best possible value to the tax-payer. NHS organisations must ensure that they can continue to provide sustainable services for today as well as the future population.
Natasha feels that management and leadership is a constant learning process and it is important to try and manage your own resilience particularly when things get tough. Her advice for new line managers is to actively engage with your team – people management can be challenging but so rewarding. Often in the NHS you are supporting staff through quite turbulent times, so you need to be able to manage change and behaviours. It’s helpful to have a trusted advisor whom you can ask for advice or to be your sounding board. This can be a professional coach or a mentor within your organisation.
Improving the lives of patients and empowering her team to strive for excellence is what drives Natasha. She enjoys watching her team grow in confidence and ability through the work that they are doing to improve patient care and patient experience. At times, the world of change management can be tough and quite lonely but it’s the determination and the talent of her team that makes Natasha’s job so rewarding.