Phillip's Journey - Make Ready Group Lead

Phillip Bygrave is a make ready group lead. He has been with the Trust for 14 years.

I worked in catering when I left school and it wasnt until I was 28 years old that I finally found my vocation when I joined the ambulance service in Yorkshire, as part of their patient transport team. I worked there for 10 years but when I relocated to Norfolk in 2009, I decided to join the East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust (EEAST).

I started working for the Trust as part of the patient transport service as an ambulance care assistant, which involved everything to do with non-emergency transportation of patients to outpatient appointments, day centres, admissions, and discharges. I then moved over to emergency operations in 2014 as a health referral carer, where we would mainly be sent to GP referrals. However, we would also be sent to back up rapid response vehicles (RRVs) to transport if the patient required hospitalisation, as well as conduct non-emergency transfers from one hospital to another.

In 2020, I decided I needed a change, but I wanted to stay within the Trust and continue to make a difference to patients, which led to me becoming part of the make ready team as a make ready operative.

After just a year as part of the make ready team, I was successful in becoming a make ready supervisor and have more recently progressed to the role of make ready group lead. I took this opportunity because I wanted to be able to not only help patients, but staff as well. Staff welfare and wellbeing is a high priority to me - having a happy workforce in turn helps with motivation and performance. In my current role I can take direct action to help and support staff, leading to good working relationships and effective communication.

I have now worked for the NHS for 23 years and Ive been on a long journey to get to where I am now, but I have surprised myself with how I have adapted. Some of the skills I have brought to my most recent roles are ones I didnt even realise I had. Im very proud to work for the ambulance service and want people to know it is somewhere anyone can work and make a real difference to peoples lives. It doesnt matter which area of the Trust you work in, we are all patient focused.

Im incredibly proud to be part of the EEAST team, knowing that I am helping people and have a positive impact on their lives. I love that I can make positive change in my department and support my team to enable them to do their jobs to their best ability and be the best version of themselves.