News stories

A housekeeping assistant, who was so inspired by the care and compassion she witnessed during the pandemic, has started her new career at Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham as a healthcare assistant.

Adele has worked at University Hospitals Birmingham as a housekeeping assistant for 15 years. Throughout the pandemic, in full personal protective equipment (PPE), Adele did her usual shifts keeping the ward clean and often went above and beyond, offering to work more shifts to cover colleagues absences.

It was during this time that she took the bold decision to think about her future. Adele had recently had surgery to repair an injury to her hand and this, together with what she had seen on critical care during the pandemic, helped make her mind up.

Adele said: “I don’t like change, so I had kept putting it off, but the pandemic really did change things for me. It put things into perspective and I knew that I couldn’t put off wanting to have a role in providing care to our patients any longer, so I took the leap. I will really miss my friends on the ward, but I am looking forward to the next chapter.”

Adele will be working in the outpatients department as a healthcare assistant, and she will complete her care certificate over next year to give her clinical competencies. Adele is hoping that this is the start of a bright new career.

Karen Dent, Facilities Operations Manager said: “Adele will be greatly missed by the Critical Care team, her ward always achieved above 98% on every audit due to her hard work and dedication. She worked all through the pandemic, nothing was too much trouble and she supported her work colleagues wellbeing by talking and encouraging them when things got a bit too much. We are very proud that Adele has achieved this role and wish her every success in her new career.”

If you are interested in a role as a housekeeper or a healthcare assistant at our hospitals search on NHS jobs.