Karen Rutter is a phlebotomist and Team Leader at the Trust and leads a 26 strong team.
A phlebotomist’s job is to obtain blood samples for a variety of reasons and ensure that the samples reach the lab within the necessary transition time. Many of us will have attended a clinic and had blood taken by a phlebotomist at some point.
It’s an integral service and the role phlebotomists play help to diagnose certain conditions, manage long term conditions and support with assessing whether someone is suitable for treatment, such as chemotherapy, anticoagulant therapy and more.
Karen said:
“I love my job, I love seeing the staff work together as a team to support all the service users. They make me proud on a daily basis.”
Taking blood isn’t always easy. It takes a special kind of person to provide that reassuring presence, compassion, teamwork and the ability to work under pressure.
Karen added:
“The service in general runs really well but we are in demand and always have a high workload which can peak at certain times of the year, particularly the last quarter of the year. Making sure all the clinics are adequately staffed is definitely the most challenging part of the job.
Christmas is difficult as all the staff request leave but the service needs to continue to run.”
So now you know a bit more about what phlebotomy, we invite you to spend the day with Karen.
5.30am
I wake up around 5.30am in preparation to start work at 7am and get ahead before the children wake up. I am lucky that I have set working hours Monday to Friday 7am until 3pm. I also provide on call once a month which covers the weekend and a Monday and Tuesday evening. We have evening and weekend blood clinics and treatment room clinics so the team needs an on call manager should there be any issues.
7am
My first priority is always to deal with any sickness in the team and ensure all of the clinics are staffed adequately and answer any queries colleagues may have raised.
My commute to work. Journeys differ in time depending on where I work – they can take 10 minutes up to 45 minutes, depending on where I’m going and what the traffic’s like. I always travel by car which is essential as a community worker – we cover a wide geographical footprint as a team to include Chorley, South Ribble and Preston.
I work wherever needed, this could be from a GP surgery via booked appointments, a community clinic via a drop in system or on domiciliary visits.
7.30am
Prioritise workloads and prepare for the day
8am
Clinic commences – I can see around 50 patients per session and have just five minutes per patient when in clinic. The number of patients we see very much depends on where we are. It could be 12 domiciliary visits in a session, ranging to more than 50 patients a session if in drop in clinics
9am
A huge part of my job is admin. Each contact we have has to be logged on the system with details of the tests taken. I also have access to systems where I can approve my team’s annual leave, log any incidents and record supervisions and appraisals.
10am
My patients so far have ranged from aged five up to those of advanced years. A chat is paramount, it helps ease any anxieties and hopefully brighten up their day – if on domiciliary visits you may be the only person they see that day so a little chat is the least you can do. The job can definitely be less than glamorous and at times, we may need to clean up if patients become unwell. It’s not one of my favourite things to do but luckily it doesn’t happen often.
Midday
I get 30 minutes for my lunch break. Today I grab a sandwich and get out on a walk to stretch my legs for ten minutes. The fresh air helps to clear my brain. If I’m working from home, I also have two dogs for company as I get my steps in.
12.30pm
I lead a team huddle to discuss the week’s priorities and objectives. We usually have two huddles a week and a larger team meeting each month.
2pm
Not long left of my shift now. Every shift is different and very fast paced, it’s never quiet. It’s lovely to meet so many people and the working day goes very fast.
3pm
I finish work at 3pm and switch into mum mode. My evenings are often spent ferrying my kids to their activities, helping with homework, cooking tea. I like to read and find this helps me switch off. I like to be nosey on social media too and I am partial to a bit of reality TV.
Our phlebotomy service is provided to patients in Central Lancashire so they can access blood clinics when tests have been requested. The service also runs drop-in anticoagulant clinics, along with enhanced needs and paediatric clinics that are appointment only.
If you’d like to join Karen Rutter and her team, or be a part of one of our other fantastic clinical or non-clinical teams at LSCft, take a look at the vacancies on our website.
