We spoke to Cheryl Ellis, junior sister in the CUH emergency department as part of Armed Forces Day 2024.
I started my working life aged 16, eight days after my 16th birthday. My mum put me on a train from where I lived in Scotland to start Army Basic Training in the Army Foundation College in January 2003. This was a year long course which provided me with basic military training using the Soldier First Concept. Whilst at Harrogate I was classed as a Junior Soldier - the military helped me gain NVQ skills and I learned finally how to make my bed!
After basic training I then moved to Keogh Barracks where I completed my Combat Medical Technician Training. During this time, I learned my trade as an Army Medic, I gained City and Guilds Level 3 qualifications, and I completed several military exercises to learn all about Battlefield First Aid. I was trained in the equipment at the time - this was very interesting as it was a joint training course alongside RAF Medical colleagues and Naval Colleagues. This gave me such a great experience and learning how to work alongside other specialities. Once I completed my training I was posted to 33 Field Hospital, which was based at Fort Blockhouse in Gosport - this was a strange posting for me as there was a large Naval presence on the camp, and Portsmouth was very much a Naval city – however, I was made to feel very welcome, and I swam for the first time in the Sea in the Solent!
In 2006 I married my husband Robert, who is still actively serving as a Soldier in the Royal Regiment of Scotland. We welcomed our first child in 2006 and we made the decision that I would end my service in the Army to start a life as a civilian.
I joined the NHS in 2008 starting as a Cleaner in the local hospital to where we were posted. I was so well supported , not only as a Veteran leaving the Armed Forces, but as a Military Spouse with young children and a partner who was deployed to Afghanistan. My managers at the time recognised the potential that my Army background had given me, and I applied for my first Healthcare Assistant role. I worked in the Medical Assessment Unit and then moved to Obstetrics and Women's Health. This job was cut sadly short, due to a posting for my husband. We relocated to North Yorkshire, where I completed my Access to Nursing Course to enter University.
In 2015 we relocated back to Inverness, where I completed my degree with the University of Stirling, graduating in 2018. As per the military way, we were posted out to Northern Ireland, two days after I finished University. I started working within the Medical Assessment Unit at the Ulster Hospital, but after three months I joined the Emergency Department, where I worked for four years.
I joined CUH in July 2022 after my husband was relocated to Bassingbourn. I work in the Emergency Department as a Junior Sister. I am fully supported by my management and my peers who all know that this is not a forever job for me but continue to push me to succeed. With another move on the horizon for us, I will be very sad to leave CUH behind.
Throughout all my NHS postings so far, I can see that my transferrable skills from the Army help me massively. However, I think being an Army Spouse has given me the grit, determination and the flexibility to adapt and overcome - all things that are much needed in the Emergency Department.
The NHS and the Armed Forces are like one big family, and I am so very lucky to be part of them both.