My name is Claire Gilby and I am the operations manager for cancer.
I am operational manager for breast, oncology, haematology, gynae-oncology and urology at CUH. I also have responsibility for cancer waiting times performance across CUH.
How long have you worked at CUH?
I have worked at CUH for 10 years.
What part of your work are you particularly proud of or find rewarding?
All of it, I feel very lucky to work with fantastic clinical teams and feel a part of improving pathways for patients.
As a manager I hope the contributions I make behind the scenes help our clinical teams to provide patients with the care they need.
I really enjoy resolving problems and working with clinical teams to introduce new services. Recent examples are CAR-T therapy, robotic surgery and the one stop kidney cancer pathway (Ckosmic).
How does your team make a difference for patients or families?
I like to think all administrative teams make a difference every day for patients and their families. The differences may not always be seen and we don't always get it right 100% of the time but we continue to try and make a visit to the hospital as easy as it can be for everyone.
What is something you’d like people to understand about your role?
For patients to receive good clinical care a whole multidisciplinary team are required. Managers are part of that team and we can take much of the administrative work away from clinical teams to allow them more time to see patients.
I started in the NHS by accident not knowing what I wanted to do after University and the NHS is an amazing institution to work for with so many opportunities. I would encourage anyone to consider it as a career path.
What’s one thing you enjoy outside of work?
I enjoy spending time with my family. My husband and I have been foster carers for 15 years so life is never quiet.