Luke Northfield spoke to us as part of National Operating Department Practitioner (ODP) Day on 14 May. Luke is a team leader for the ODPs/anaesthetic practitioner nurses (APs) in the main theatres at Addenbrooke’s Hospital. Here Luke shares more about his journey into the role and working at CUH.
My name is Luke Northfield. I’m one of two band 7 team leaders for the ODPs/anaesthetic practitioner nurses in main theatres at CUH.
I started here when I was 18 in 2007. I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to do, but I felt a pull to work with and help people. I saw a job advert for a theatre orderly - I’ll be honest, at the time I had no idea what that meant, but it was a foot in the door to a place where I wanted to be.
I applied and got an interview. I was so nervous as I hadn’t really had a proper ‘grown-up’ job before - just a Sunday job in a farm shop during my A-Levels. My interview was with Steve, a jolly-looking guy in a shirt and tie, and Sarah, a kind, softly spoken lady in black scrubs who put me right at ease. I don’t remember much else from that, but I must’ve done something right as I was sitting behind the desk with the orderlies a month later!
Since I started, I have seen and done most things in main theatres, yet each day even now is a learning opportunity.
I began as band 2 theatre orderly, which involved taking patients to and from theatres, blood running and fetching oxygen cylinders. I then moved into Unit 3 ear, nose and throat (ENT) theatres as a theatre support worker (TSW). I really enjoyed my time there; it was a good bunch of people to work with and I laughed every day and learnt a lot. From there I began my ODP training and worked a shift a week as a TSW while I trained.
The training I received was second to none; I learnt so much from some very competent and skilled ODPs.
I qualified as band 5 ODP in 2012 and then spent five years getting around all departments and learning as much I could. My first list on my own was with Dr Munday doing an oesophagostomy. I made no mistakes, everything went smoothly with no issues on my part, and I thought I was perfect. I wasn’t, but I learnt very quickly.
Looking back at my band 5 time, I worked with so many different people, looked after many different patients and had experiences here I wouldn’t have been able to have in any other job and I’m thankful for that.
I then gained my band 6 , becoming offsite lead, another thing I enjoyed. I really like doing paediatric work and being in an offsite area is tricky, especially in MRI as it’s an almost solo area that gave me a sense of fulfilment and pride.
Fast forward a few years and we get to December 2019 when I gained promotion to band 7 for the area that I trained in. The hardest and most rewarding role I’ve ever done, especially since when I was month or two in, Covid reared its ugly head and changed life forever. It was a challenge to lead a team I had only just been re-introduced to through the weirdest, toughest and full-on two to three years of the pandemic. Life’s a breeze now, so he says!
A usual day is often a mix of theatre management, people management, HR, rotas, emails, meetings and whatever comes our way.
Our aim is make sure our staff are well looked after, so they can look after our patients to the best of their ability.
It’s been a massive learning curve from a scrawny 18 year old band 2, to a not so scrawny 36 year old band 7, but I appreciate all that I have learned and the people I’ve met. I met my wife, Gemma, on my first shift here, so 16 years, 8 months and 9 days from the time of writing, a marriage and 2 kids later, I find myself being asked to write my journey as it were.
As I think back, the cases that really stand out to me are unfortunately the ones where I was most involved from the aspect of fluid resuscitation and emergency situations. I think all of us have that one case we remember and mine was on a night shift involving paediatric work. We worked on this patient all night, actively performing resuscitation throughout the operation; the hardest case, emotionally and physically I’ve ever done. Weirdly enough I spoke to the consultant surgeon who I was with that night only last month and just so happened to ask if they’d remembered that case, and they did. Happy to say that child, now young man, has now graduated university and living a full life. I think about that often.
We make a difference. Even if it’s a chat with the patient before their surgery or that full on case during the night, we really do make a difference and I think at times we forget that.
My colleague Hannah and I lead a team of strong willed, charismatic and competent mix of ODPs and APs who challenge me and keep me on my toes every day. I am thankful for them and for the opportunity to do right by them.
Every day is a learning day.