60 seconds with...Kate Lavin
We spoke to Kate Lavin, interim infection prevention and control clinical site lead, about her role and what she enjoys the most, highlights from the past year and being awarded Star of the Month.
1) Hi Kate, can you tell us a bit more about your background and your work experience?
My background is infection, prevention, control and I’ve been in the Trust since 1996. I started working in Intensive Care, I was there for nine years, and then moved to Infection control across all sites.
I left full-time work when I was 50 and came back to do bank shifts and then since the pandemic I’ve been working full-time across all sites.
At the end of November 2021, I was asked to come to Whipps Cross to lead the infection control team in readiness for the fourth wave of Covid-19.
2) Can you tell us a bit more about your role and the work your team does?
We work with all specialities in the hospital including the cleaning teams, porters, estates, management and site teams. Aside from working with the management team and the site teams, we are very much a clinical team, supporting the nursing staff in terms of appropriate infection control, prevention management for all our patients and make sure we comply with infection control precautions.
3) Are there any highlights from the past few months that you’d like to share?
My highlights are that I work with a fantastic team, including the site team and the senior nurses in clinical areas, and for me it’s a very privilege to work at Whipps Cross. It’s a lovely site and there’s never a dull moment.
Another highlight was how our teams responded to the challenge that the fourth wave of Covid presented around Christmas. It was very challenging as we saw the cases going up and what stood out for me during this time were the daily Covid meetings we had chaired by our medical director and with the site teams and senior nurses. Those meetings were invaluable as well as the communication with those teams making sure that we kept our patients safe, the experience of working directly with the site teams because it’s a really amazing team and their engagement is fantastic.
4) You’ve worked across all sites, but can you tell us what your experience is like working here at Whipps Cross?
It’s a special hospital for me. It's also a very challenging site, because of patient demographics but it feels like a big family because everyone knows one another, everyone works really well together and whilst is challenging, each day is different and the engagement that everyone has is fantastic.
The infection prevention control team that I work with is awesome, they are very committed and very dedicated to their jobs. Whilst we have been short staffed and it has been challenging, the team has been really brilliant in what they do and they’ve been a great support to me as well
It’s an honour and a privilege to work at this site.
5) How do you feel about being awarded Star of the Month in March?
It came as a total surprise and I’m very honoured, but it’s not just my award, it’s a team award, it’s everybody else’s award too, anyone who’s worked with me directly or indirectly, like all the staff in the clinical areas and the site teams.
It’s everybody’s award, everyone is a star.
I think it’s very important to get this kind of recognition and keep our people motivated. It’s greatly appreciated it and it’s good for staff’s morale. I’ve always said: a happy workforce is a productive workforce.