Working Life: 'You might be the only person the patient talks to today'

Rebecca Maher: “One value I hold dear from my early days with the HSE is how important it is to engage humanely with patients." Picture: Larry Cummins.

Rebecca Maher, deputy director of commissioning at the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF)

“When I started working for the HSE, I was still a student, studying political science at UCC.

“I got a weekend job at Cork University Hospital where I did clerical work, checking-in patients at the emergency department and out-patient clinics. I’d spend evenings pulling patient charts and X-rays. It was a baptism of fire with lots of responsibility, and a great education.

“I worked at CUH for four years but when the financial crisis hit, anyone temping as a clerical officer was let go. By then, I knew my way around the electronic inpatient management system that the Mercy University Hospital was migrating to, and I got a job there.

“I was in the Mercy for eight years and worked in all the different departments, including waiting-list management. It was tough work but in hindsight, it has really stood to me in my current job.

“When you are putting treatment packages together for long-waiting patients on public hospital waiting lists — which is what we do at the NTPF — you can’t look at anything in isolation. You have to look at the availability of appointments, consultants, lab services, diagnostics, theatres — everything the patient will need.

“There are many moving parts and it can be difficult to get people to understand. The first thing patients should do is to contact their referring hospital to see if they are suitable for referral to another hospital. Their hospital then liaises with us.

“One value I hold dear from my early days with the HSE is how important it is to engage humanely with patients. A manager once told me, ‘You might be the only person that patient talks to today, so engage, say hello, ask how they are’.

“I remember one gentleman telling me how nervous he was. It was his first time attending a hospital appointment on his own since his wife died. I often think of that experience and how we should always remember it’s a public service and engaging with people is very important.

“We’re a small team of just 100 people in the NTPF, but we’re making great progress. Just 14 of us work in commissioning and last year we exceeded our commissioning targets by 10%. A record 251,000 public patients had their operations, procedures, diagnostic scans and consultant appointments arranged by the NTPF.”