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My working day begins with opening the shutter and preparing the crews to exit on time for their shift, I may have on-site staff like deep cleaners or mechanics arriving to repair vehicles etc

Then shunting and getting vehicles ready, the crews will usually assist me to prepare for the day ahead.

I eventually put the kettle on, then check for any VOR (Vehicles Of Road) or repairs that may have happened out of hours and ensure that the reports have been submitted, so that the vehicles can be scheduled for fixing, where needed. I check that Crew PDA's are charged and ready to go and tour the site to ensure Site health and safety.

I log on to my computer to check for the overnight emails (sickness etc) and then answer the crews questions they may have about their planned work, FSGB or PeopleHR tapping in issues.

The highlight of my role is knowing that I have successfully completed all outstanding problems for the day and having a clear desk with nothing to chase the next day.

We do have challenges during the day – from changes to workloads for crews to working through Cleric and system navigation. The most difficult challenges revolve around incident investigations. However, my time in the Police service has helped me in the role, being able to collate evidence and investigate efficiently.

A ‘Best Day’ would be organising the Xmas rota - very challenging and hard to achieve every member of staff’s wishes. 2025 was a success with no issues raised!

A day in 3 words “Patients - Staff – Patience”

My working day usually begins by coming into Essex control, asking how the controllers are and ask how we are doing, they then fill me in with any major issues and sickness.

Daily, my routine follows a very similar start - I log on to my pc and Cleric to check allocations with possible End Of Life bookings. I catch up with emails and reply as required, then log on to PeopleHR and check that all of the staff I oversee have ‘tapped in’ to start their shifts, and see if there are any holiday requests.

The day progresses with communications with the hospitals via touchpoint meetings on Teams/Zoom – to be able to make the team aware of any pressures within the hospitals service system and inform them of any consequences this might have on our service for the day ahead.

The highlight of my role could be a few things:

• working with my team on a daily basis – we are well-gelled and work well together
• working through issues raised throughout the day and achieving a positive solution
• getting everyone home in a safe and timely manner
• being able to react to incidents that are thrown in during the day

The biggest challenge I have faced in my role as team leader in the control room would be meeting all the contractual needs and demand from the hospitals whilst trying to maintain a fair and timely service to our patients.

I feel the most valuable experience that has helped me in my role is that of being an ECA and ACA within the company since 2013. This experience has helped me guide crews who have experienced issues, helped with understanding patient needs, understanding the layout of vehicles and knowledge of hospitals within different areas.

I'm going back a few years, but my best day at HTG has got to be when I was working on the road during Covid. I was working on the covid vehicles and myself and my crew mate had the great pleasure of taking home the first patient that had come off a ventilator after having severe covid and survived at Basildon hospital. The corridors were lined with doctors, consultants, nurses, HCA's, that were exhausted but found the time to line the corridors to cheer and clap for the patient. It was a great honour and privilege, and this moment will stay with me forever.

Three words that would sum up a day as a control team leader would be “Challenging-satisfying-rewarding”.

I begin my day with a coffee while checking in with the crews. I then review the GANTT resourcing chart for any operational changes and monitor Teams communications to understand any overnight updates or emerging priorities.

The most rewarding part of my role is ensuring vehicles are returned to service promptly, allowing patients to be moved quickly and safely. Knowing that my work directly supports patient care gives me a strong sense of achievement.

A significant challenge was stepping into the Assistant Station Manager position and working independently while still new to the role. It required resilience, adaptability, and confidence in my decision-making, and ultimately helped me grow as a leader.

My time at sea as a Weapons Engineer, responsible for 480 personnel, developed my resilience, leadership skills, and ability to perform effectively under pressure — all of which have been invaluable in this role.

A standout moment was being nominated for Employee of the Month. It was a meaningful recognition of the hard work and commitment I bring to the role.

My working day begins arriving at work and working my way through the staff waiting with their current issue of the day, normally about 5 mins, but first things first, I whack the lights on and turn on my computer, put my lunch in the fridge, take a deep breath, and then get cracking.

The highlight of my role is being able to do a job that I love, and be able to be a full time parent, HTG have been supportive in this, allowing me to do the school run as my break and suggesting for me to start earlier and finish earlier, I have been here 12 years now and just want to grow in the company

The biggest challenge I have handled in my role was the implementation of PeopleHR and getting this adopted by the staff, we are now at 96 percent compliant!

Being a Deputy Manager prior to this role has helped with certain aspects of the role of being a manager but it has still been a big learning curve and I’m forever learning in this role, you can never know everything. The 8 years road experience allows me to understand what my crews are dealing with.

It is really difficult to say what my best day has been, but when I was on the road, I had an end of life patient that wanted to be with her family. A lovely lady, but there was a problem with her DNAR and the only doctor that could sign it was in A+E. I asked the staff to inform the doctor I was on my way down to get it signed. I ran down to A+E I got it signed, went back to the ward, transferred the lady, and took her to her family. Once there, we transferred the lady being extra careful, adding extra pillows under her to make her more comfortable. It was really touching and happy and sad at the same time, but it was worth it when saying goodbye, as the smile and the heart felt thank you for everything you have done, leaves you with a rewarding feeling that we had made a difference to someone’s life in a positive way. Having gone through things myself helps me be more supportive as I can relate realistically.

To describe a typical day in 3 words, I would say - Challenging, teamwork, dedication or Living the Dream 😊

I have been in the hospitality industry for many years but decided to change my vocation and went for a job as a call taker. I had never done this kind of work but have always been a people person. I joined HTG in February 2023 and it is now 3yrs in and I love the job even though it has its challenges it also has a lot of rewards!

Apart from the obvious part of the role - booking outpatients/discharges /transfers /End of life Journeys Bed Moves /Care Home moves and liaising with control and keeping up on information and contracts - there is the human side of it.

This job is very rewarding and I feel we can make a difference. It can be  emotionally challenging. We deal with End Of Life patients a lot and sometimes children and young people; however I do feel talking to the nurses who are with these patients and booking these journeys informative and uplifting. I have even told some of them what an amazing job they do, if I can hear in their voice they are a little down or upset. I try to do that on these bookings even though there was a point I lost someone very close to me and the EOL bookings were very close to my life at the time. But we have a job to do and a role to play so you just do your job and make the day a bit brighter for others where you can.

We deal with a lot cancer /Renal patients whose lives are lived by the condition they have, so I have a lot of empathy and patience and understanding when doing these bookings. Also, a lot of the elderly patients we have may not talk to people for days and sometimes having a little chat and laughter with them can lift their day.

I have spoken to several people who have cried and been upset and told me lots of things and some that have been quite rude but  I have just spoken to them with kindness and understanding  and even if they were a little curt to me in the beginning they apologised for being so and said thank  you for listening - that means a lot.

It is lovely that we have a support network around us and feel I can pick up the phone and ask for help or advice if I need it and get support from the company

We treat people as equals and never judge giving the same kindness and understanding to all.

I think about the times which make me smile - like singing happy birthday to a 99yr old and speaking my native language (Greek) to someone who couldn't speak English.

In all, every day is different as a call taker and you never know what you are going to encounter but I think any of these patients could be a family member or close friend and like to treat them as such.

This job brings me a lot of job satisfaction.