Charlene Kearney, the Northern Health and Social Care Trust’s Lead Healthcare Scientist, pictured with Dr Dave Watkins.
What comes to mind when you hear the term Healthcare Scientist?
You might think it’s all microscopes and test tubes but this area of health and social care is much broader than you might think.
During Healthcare Science Week (March 10 – 16), the Northern Health and Social Care Trust is shining a light on its diverse healthcare science workforce, which brings together upwards of 350 people working across over 50 different specialisms including Laboratories, Cardiac and Respiratory Physiology, Audiology, Clinical Engineering and Medical Photography.
It also includes Decontamination Services, where staff wash, inspect, repackage and sterilise approximately 1.6m instruments every year from a range of services including Surgery, Medicine, Dentistry, Podiatry, Endoscopy and Cardiology.
Healthcare Science includes Decontamination Services, where staff wash, inspect, repackage and sterilise approximately 1.6m instruments every year from a range of services including Surgery, Medicine, Dentistry, Podiatry, Endoscopy and Cardiology.
And have you ever wondered who makes sure all the medical machinery is working properly? That’s thanks to the Clinical Engineers who repair, service and network a range of complex medical devices across the Trust including life support equipment, dialysis equipment, cardiac monitoring, ultrasound equipment, anaesthetic equipment.
Behind the scenes, front line medics are supported by the vital work going on within our laboratories, with Biomedical Scientists operating within various specialisms. Clinical Biochemistry alone processes approximately 3000 samples every day, with up to 20,000 tests performed, analysed, and reported on.
Results generated in the Trust’s labs play a crucial role in informing clinical decisions, diagnosing conditions, and managing ongoing patient care.
In recognition of this expansive remit, all HSC Trusts have been asked to appoint a Lead Healthcare Scientist, with Head of Cardiac Physiology, Charlene Kearney, taking on this new role within the Northern Trust.
She said:
“This came about under the direction of Professor Ian Young, Northern Ireland’s Chief Scientific Advisor, and I am delighted to be the Northern Trust’s first Lead Healthcare Scientist.
“I have come to know many of the Team North Healthcare Scientists and I am very proud to represent them.
“We are a hardworking, innovative, specialist and diverse workforce, and I aim to raise awareness of our work at both a local and regional level by working with my counterparts in other Trusts, regional Healthcare Science working groups and the Department of Health.
“Within my own area of Healthcare Science, Cardiac and Respiratory Physiologists in the Northern Trust carry out over 65,000 specialist diagnostic tests every year. They are involved in direct patient care and their work significantly impacts clinical decision making, diagnosis and ongoing treatment.”
Healthcare Scientists include patient-facing roles like Cardiac and Respiratory Physiologists.
Dr Dave Watkins, the Northern Trust’s Medical Director, said:
“Healthcare Science Week is an ideal time to acknowledge and celebrate the important contribution Healthcare Scientists make towards patient safety and care across Northern Trust.
“Charlene’s appointment to Trust Lead Healthcare Scientist will ensure that Northern Trust colleagues are well represented.
“We are keen to ensure that we maximise opportunities for Healthcare Scientists to develop their careers within the Trust, and that their skills and opportunities for innovation in their practice are used to the full to improve patient care.”
Recognising the important work carried out by Healthcare Scientists, Professor Ian Young said:
“Healthcare Scientists deliver and contribute to patient care across Life Sciences, Physiological Sciences, Medical Physics and Clinical Engineering, and Data Sciences.
“They are a highly diverse scientific workforce who can be found in many areas of Health and Social Care alongside Doctors, Nurses and other healthcare professionals. Healthcare Scientists are critical to the development of new clinical and technological advances and drive innovation across the Health and Social Care system to improve efficiency, reduce inequalities and produce better outcomes for all.”
If you’re interested in finding out more about working in the world of Healthcare Science please visit here.