Anyone working in healthcare has their own experience from the COVID-19 outbreak, and especially its peak, but what was it like for those working behind the clinical care frontline in facilities management?
Louise Jackson, who leads the VINCI Facilities team at Queen Elizabeth Hospital Woolwich, told us her story.
One of the things you learn quickly in facilities management is that not many days are the same. It’s one of the factors that make the job interesting and challenging. There’s often something new to deal with, even though we are working to a plan. That all changed in March this year. People reading this will nod their head. Priorities, plans, and day-to-day actions changed for everyone, formally, once the Prime Minister confirmed ‘lockdown’. Like us, healthcare workers and their support teams had some clue about what was coming down the line and we had been preparing, but, honestly, nothing can really prepare you for what COVID-19 meant.
As a business, VINCI Facilities teams work at 11 hospitals across the UK. Many of us in the healthcare team have specialised in the sector for some time. I am a senior project manager, and I have been with VINCI Facilities for over 10 years, previously working at High Wycombe, Amersham, and Henley hospitals, and now I lead our team at Queen Elizabeth Hospital Woolwich – part of Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust. So, we are an experienced team, but from the moment the UK went into lockdown, everything changed for us at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Woolwich.
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