"I had always wanted to get a job at Guy’s: people worldwide know where you are from if you say you work here.
"What I have found is a career; coming here has given me a clear goal and direction to work in, as well as the educational and clinical support necessary to achieve my goals, such as flexible working and reduced hours.
"I am a senior operating department practitioner. An ODP is an allied health professional and, by law, we have to be registered with the Health Professions Council.
"I work in main theatres at Guy’s. My main role is as a scrub practitioner, working as part of the scrub team: professionals who are either ODPs or nurses. We assist the surgeon during an operation by selecting the sterile instruments and disposable items that the surgeon will need for the operation, laying them up in a sterile manner, handing them to the surgeons, maintaining the sterile field and making sure that everything that goes in to the patient is accounted for at the end of the operation.
"I also mentor students and newly qualified nurses and ODPs, ensuring that they have the skills needed to work in operating theatre.
"Working in surgery gives you a real sense of achievement. Many of the patients we see come in with a specific problem, for which they have a specific surgery which cures them. You get to meet a wide cross section of society, and provide care to people who really need it."