Aileen McGurran

Name : Aileen McGurran
Employer : Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Qualifications : BMus music, Queen’s University, Belfast (1999); PgDip speech and language therapy, City University (2006)

8.00 am

The first thing I do when I get into work is check my e-mail and diary. I plan which patients I need to see and check for any new referrals.

9.00 am

I usually do some administrative work, such as writing discharge reports, maintaining statistics or liaising with other speech and language therapists in the local area.
I then head off to the wards to review patients or see new referrals. This can involve assessing, diagnosing and providing therapy to patients with communication and swallowing difficulties. I also provide advice and support to their families. Part of the morning can also include meetings. In our weekly neurological team meeting we regularly take part in clinical sessions to increase our skills and knowledge.

12.30 pm

I have lunch in the department with the rest of the team for a catch up and our daily chocolate fix! The afternoon is often spent on the wards seeing new patients and reviewing current patients, and I regularly attend multidisciplinary meetings. We run a flexible and responsive service, therefore the structure of my day is usually determined by how busy we are and how many new referrals we receive. I have time allocated on one afternoon a week to work on any ongoing projects or audits that I may have.

4.30 pm

I finish work at 4.30pm. Before I leave I check my diary and, if I have time, plan what I need to do for the following day. The very last thing I do is close the window and once again forget to water the plants!

As multidisciplinary teamwork is essential to ensure effective patient care I get to know the various members of staff on the wards and in other departments during the working day. The speech and language therapy team is great – we work well together and we often meet up outside work.