Skip to main content

This site is best viewed with a modern browser. You appear to be using an old version of Internet Explorer.

Thank You - Reception Team

25/06/2020
This article is more than three years old.

Our Patient Services Reception Team is the 'face' of our Trust, and members of the team are often the first faces our patients see when they arrive - patients who may be anxious, worried, scared, stressed or angry. 

Our reception staff direct patients to their appointments, offering reassurance and kindness, ensuring they are comfortable while they wait in our reception areas, putting them at their ease. 

Things have changed for the team since COVID-19 - and this is not a team that has the option to work from home. 

The last few months have brought many challenges. Patients have been more worried than ever, and it has been the team's job to reassure them they are in safe hands.

The team has taken on new responsibilities, including sending out condolence cards on behalf of the Trust to the families of those who have sadly died in our hospitals during the pandemic. 

They check supplies of hand sanitiser in the entrance areas, and clean down wheelchairs to ensure they are ready for use.

One member of the team, Safiya, was redeployed temporarily to help organise PPE fittings for staff, setting up an appointment system that is still in use across the Trust.

As well as all this, they have provided support to the Complaints team and the Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) team, both currently working off-site, and helped Oxford Hospitals Charity manage the generous donations from the public and local businesses that have been arriving at our hospitals throughout this challenging time.

This is a group of people who will always go the extra mile to support anyone who needs their help, and should feel proud of how they have ensured it has been 'business as usual' for patients attending hospital.

Our patients know this too, and often thank them for their friendly greetings and smiles, with some patients telling them 'a smile is the best medicine'!

Katie Harris, Complaints and Patient Services Manager, says:

"I would like to offer my own, sincere thanks and gratitude to the team, who have worked throughout this situation without complaint.

"One positive thing we've taken from this situation is that it has bonded the team completely, and made their work ethic even stronger."

Eileen Walsh, Chief Assurance Officer, says:

"It has been so important to ensure the continued smooth running of our hospital sites during this very difficult time. We are enormously grateful for the work of our receptionists in this respect.

"We really couldn't manage without them."

Thank you for all you do!