00:00:00 My name is Tracey Biddle, I work in the outpatients at West Park and I'm a healthcare assistant. I'm there to assist the doctors if they need anything, paper work, if they need any notes finding or things like that. We have to do blood pressures and do the weights and the pulse and sometimes we have to do an ECG which is heart tracing.
00:00:24 I never really liked school, to be quite honest. It was sort of, you had to go so I went. There were certain aspects of school that I did enjoy. I passed all my exams and things so that wasn't a problem but it was just, I just to go so I went. For me, I would want to be out to work, I just wanted to get some money. You know, that's all I ever wanted to do was to get some money.
00:00:51 When I first left school I was 16. I was offered a position in an office environment. It was just doing paper work, it was just filing, answering telephones and things like that. It wasn't mind boggling, it wasn't something that, you know, you could get your teeth into. It was just basics paper work and things. And then I was offered a supervisor's position after a couple of years which I took.
00:01:19 But I didn't find that was me. I didn't like to be supervising people, I like to go and do what I wanted to do in my own time. Telling other people, you know, is not my thing, really. So, from there I thought, "Well, I need to do something completely different," and I went to a supermarket and that was even worse. I couldn't stand the mundane every day work in there. Every day you're doing the same thing day in, day out and it was just getting to the stage where you think, "Well, you can do something a little bit better than that."
00:01:57 I decided I just wanted a totally completely different, you know, experience. I wanted to do something different. I was talking to a friend and she was working here at West Park at the time and she said, "Why don't you just give it a try? Give it, you know, see if you like it or not." So, she gave me the phone number and that sort of inspired me to go and, you know, it took me a few days to think about it, really, if it was something I really wanted to do and I thought, "Yeah, it was something I really wanted to do."
00:02:27 I phoned and I said, "Is there any positions going, is there anything you want filling?" and they said, "Well, yes, come for an interview and we'll see what we can do for you." So, I did and I got the position. It was easy, actually. It was more easy than I expected it to be. Because I mean, it was just a phone call, I made the phone and they said, "Yeah, come along and have an interview." It was easy for me. I suppose it's not easy for everybody else but it was easy for me. I decided I wanted to do something, I just went and did it and I got through it.
00:03:02 I have been doing an NVQ course which is, you know, National Diploma so, yeah, that's probably my next stage and I should be doing that pretty soon. But I think because I've got a nice home life as well it doesn't really bother me whether I go any further or stay. I'm just quite happy doing what I'm doing. Yeah. I was never any good at nursing or looking after people. It's not me at all, really. But it sort of grows inside, the feeling just sort of takes over.
00:03:41 ENDS
Tracey Biddle
Tracey Biddle - Wolverhampton PCT
My name is Tracey Biddle, I work in the outpatients at West Park and I'm a healthcare assistant. I'm there to assist the doctors if they need anything, paper work, if they need any notes finding or things like that. We have to do blood pressures and do the weights and the pulse and sometimes we have to do an ECG which is heart tracing.
I never really liked school, to be quite honest. It was sort of, you had to go so I went. There were certain aspects of school that I did enjoy. I passed all my exams and things so that wasn't a problem but it was just, I just to go so I went. For me, I would want to be out to work, I just wanted to get some money. You know, that's all I ever wanted to do was to get some money.
When I first left school I was 16. I was offered a position in an office environment. It was just doing paper work, it was just filing, answering telephones and things like that. It wasn't mind boggling, it wasn't something that, you know, you could get your teeth into. It was just basics paper work and things. And then I was offered a supervisor's position after a couple of years which I took.
But I didn't find that was me. I didn't like to be supervising people, I like to go and do what I wanted to do in my own time. Telling other people, you know, is not my thing, really. So, from there I thought, "Well, I need to do something completely different," and I went to a supermarket and that was even worse. I couldn't stand the mundane every day work in there. Every day you're doing the same thing day in, day out and it was just getting to the stage where you think, "Well, you can do something a little bit better than that."
I decided I just wanted a totally completely different, you know, experience. I wanted to do something different. I was talking to a friend and she was working here at West Park at the time and she said, "Why don't you just give it a try? Give it, you know, see if you like it or not." So, she gave me the phone number and that sort of inspired me to go and, you know, it took me a few days to think about it, really, if it was something I really wanted to do and I thought, "Yeah, it was something I really wanted to do."
I phoned and I said, "Is there any positions going, is there anything you want filling?" and they said, "Well, yes, come for an interview and we'll see what we can do for you." So, I did and I got the position. It was easy, actually. It was more easy than I expected it to be. Because I mean, it was just a phone call, I made the phone and they said, "Yeah, come along and have an interview." It was easy for me. I suppose it's not easy for everybody else but it was easy for me. I decided I wanted to do something, I just went and did it and I got through it.
I have been doing an NVQ course which is, you know, National Diploma so, yeah, that's probably my next stage and I should be doing that pretty soon. But I think because I've got a nice home life as well it doesn't really bother me whether I go any further or stay. I'm just quite happy doing what I'm doing. Yeah. I was never any good at nursing or looking after people. It's not me at all, really. But it sort of grows inside, the feeling just sort of takes over.
ENDS
Tracey Biddle is a healthcare assistant in the Outpatients department of a hospital. After trying several different careers a friend recommended healthcare, and Tracey hasn't looked back since. She is now doing a NVQ whilst working and says "I'm just quite happy doing what I'm doing".
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