My journey from retail to healthcare

From retail to healthcare. Behind the scenes with the Front of House

Meet Lisa. She's currently working as a Front of House Supervisor at The Princess Grace Hospital but that wasn't always the case. Before she joined HCA UK 8 years ago she had a career in retail but soon found out her skills were easily transferable. We caught up with her to find out how she managed the transition and how she's progressed her career in the Front of House team.

So, tell us a bit about yourself?

I’ve been at HCA UK for nearly eight years now. Currently I’m working as a Front of House Supervisor looking after a team of Receptionists and Porters. Prior to this, my career had mainly been in retail. When I moved into healthcare, this was very much a new challenge for me, but I soon found I had a lot of transferable skills, especially great customer service which I could bring to my role in reception.

How did you end up in your current role?

I started as a receptionist at 30 Devonshire Street, part of The Harley Street Clinic, and really enjoyed it. After two years I interviewed for a Supervisor role but was unsuccessful at that time. The management recognised I wanted to develop further and I was given a promotion to a senior role as an opportunity to develop. I stayed in this role for nearly two years. I then moved to The Princess Grace Hospital where there was an opportunity to become a Front of House Supervisor. During the past four years, I have really grown and developed as a person, learning new skills within my roles has given me a better understanding and knowledge to be able to support my team with confidence.

What does your typical day look like?

Being in Front of House we are the first point of contact for patients, visitors, staff and help with the day-to-day operation of the hospital including; admissions, booking taxi’s, couriers and directing all patients to their outpatients’ appointments. I also operate the hospital’s main switchboard, which includes responding to emergency calls within all of The Princess Grace Hospital’s facilities.

I also have managerial responsibilities, which include completing the staffing rotas, attending daily meetings with Heads of Departments (HODs), and issuing and updating security access passes. It’s varied but I love my team and really enjoy coming to work. We all have our own individual personalities but we work so well together.

We heard you were nominated for Colleague of the Year – tell us about that!

That’s right! It was the end of 2021. Having a new manager gave me the confidence to take on more responsibilities and grow.

I also received an Epic award, part of our internal colleague recognition programme for all my hard work from the Deputy Head of Nursing and other Senior Nursing Staff. It was really nice to be recognised it was a real stand out moment for me as it showed how much I’d grown over time. I’m an individual who would be pleased with just a thank you. It was really special, being rewarded and recognised for my work especially over Christmas, it was quite emotional actually.

What would you say to anyone considering moving to HCA Healthcare UK?

Having been here nearly eight years myself, I would definitely recommend HCA UK as a great career path. There are lots of opportunities for you to develop and go on training and courses. Within my team I have seen my staff develop further in their careers and have seen people move to other departments within HCA UK.