Talking #TeamCWPT blog

Long Service Awards: Carol's story

From starting as a 19-year-old at a psychiatric hospital to over 40 years of dedicated service, Carol Watson shares a heartfelt and remarkable journey in the NHS.

Carol Watson 

Job title: Medical Secretary
Years of service: 40 plus

Well, I can't believe I've worked for this Trust for over 40 years; it does make me feel old! I started my career as a very naïve 19-year-old straight out of college at the old Central Hospital at Hatton, set in the most beautiful grounds. Things were very different then - it was before general management and there was much less bureaucracy. My first job was as a secretary to the director of nursing services, and I had to single-handedly provide the admin support for the recruitment of all nurses at Central Hospital and the community units. I had no training, not even an induction, it was very much you just got on with things. I got to know a lot of the newly qualified nurses who have gone on to be senior nurses in the Trust. There was no supervision in those days, and it was before the HR department was introduced. 

The highlight of my career was when I was lucky enough to spend 25 years as a medical secretary in a job I absolutely loved; working for the consultant psychotherapist and the psychotherapy team. I had found my perfect fit and the team became my second family, going through good and bad times together. I think I hold the record for working the latest before having a baby! I went to work 1 day as usual, 7 months pregnant, worked until 3:30pm when I had a placental abruption, made rather a mess and left in an ambulance. I had my son by emergency caesarean soon afterwards. There can't be many people who set off for work as normal and end the day with a baby!

After the last admin redesign, I move over to inpatient admin at St Michael's, where I've been for the last 10 years.

I have met some lovely people over the years and have learned a lot; I'm more resilient than I thought, I've got greater staying power than I thought. I have always tried my hardest in every role I have had and hope I have done my bit to make the NHS services run as well as they could.