A day in the life of Lorraine
Admin Manager
Career background:
I have worked in the health and justice sector for over a decade – starting as an Administrator, then Senior Administrator, before going on secondment to work as a PA to a director for five years. For the past two years, I have worked as an Admin Manager at HMP Holme House and although it can be challenging at times, it is one of the best moves I have ever made.
Before working within prisons, I was a phlebotomist for nine years.
What do you love about working at Spectrum?
The thing I love the most about working within prison healthcare is the variety; no two days are the same. Here at HMP Holme House, we have a fantastic team – which makes the role even more rewarding.
Top tip for working at Spectrum:
“Do not be judgemental”
This is what a day in the life of an Admin Manager can look like:
My alarm goes off at 6:45 am, although I must admit I do snooze it a few times (I hate early mornings). I run downstairs, pop the kettle on, then put the fire on and browse social media. What I should probably be doing is watching the news and checking the travel, as the A19 can be a nightmare.
When I get to work, I park my car in the FREE staff car park, head to the main gate, show my prison ID and head into the estate. I then have to go through a biometric fingerprint scanner and my fingerprint is checked again for a second time to draw keys. Working in a prison environment is not the same as working in a hospital or a care home etc – there are a lot more security measures.
I then head onto the next step – security. This department will decide whether I can head straight to my office or whether I need to get my bag/coat checked (through the scanner) and I might also be checked with a detector by an officer (like when you are in an airport).
Finally, I get to my office. I check on all my team members and make sure they are ok and have no issues. My team at HMP Holme House covers general healthcare, drug and alcohol recovery treatment and mental health services. Once I’ve carried out my checks, I quickly log in and check my emails and Teams for any urgent messages/issues.
I then go on to check our outpatient’s department, making sure that all clinicians who are on site that day have everything they need. This is something I continue to check throughout the day, ensuring that clinical staff complete the ledgers correctly.
At 9:15am every morning, we have a Senior Management Team (SMT) meeting. This meeting includes SMT Healthcare, TEWV, Humankind, Inpatients Nurse, Pharmacy, DART, GPs, and myself. We discuss any issues that may have arisen during the previous day or on nightshift. This is something I usually chair and also take minutes at.
After the SMT, I return to my office and check my emails and Teams messages. I also open up a programme called SystmOne which allows me to easily monitor clinics, check on cancellations, dna appointments, tasks, and scanning levels.
As an admin team, throughout the day we also:
- Organise daily clinics, which include GPs, dental, podiatry, physio, USS and X-ray
- Liaise with GP surgeries for GP and medication summaries
- Monitor all new receptions and book onto relevant clinics
- Arrange outside hospital appointments for our patients
- Manage complaints and compliments
- Arrange urgent hospital treatments for patients
I usually leave work around 17:30, getting home about 18:30. It’s then a quick change, organise the tea for my family, 30 minutes on the cross trainer, and then usually chill time.