23rd April 2024
Dedicated, reliable, sympathetic and compassionate – these are just some of the words used to describe one of the Southern Health and Social Care Trust’s longest serving staff members.
Philomena Crossan has spent the past 52 years working as a Paediatric Medical Secretary and recently was awarded the Trust’s Lifetime Dedication award at a staff recognition event.
Throughout the past five decades, Philomena has been an advocate for the needs of all the children on the Community Paediatric list, having been instrumental in setting up the clinics in John Mitchell Place back in the early 1980s.
As the Trust marked Admin Professionals Day on Wednesday 24th April, we asked Philomena what it feels like to give her life’s work to the NHS.
“I haven’t known anything different. This has been my one and only job. I started straight out of Newy tech on 5 April in 1972 in the then Armagh County Health and then in 1973 moved to Newry and Mourne area and to Downshire Place until moving to John Mitchel Place in Newry in early 1980s.”
Described as the “back bone” of the Department by her colleagues, Philomena’s extensive experience and knowledge greatly assists its smooth running, from both an admin and clinician perspective.
“There have been a lot of changes over the years – I remember we used to have handwritten appointment diaries then it changed to PAS, to manual and then electronic typewriters before moving to shorthand and then digital and that was all before the introduction of computer systems.
“I remember we had no photocopying machines, so we had to type up what we wanted and use a stencilling machine and feed the paper through it – so this meant if you needed 100 copies, you had to do it 100 times!”
Her dedication to her role, even travels with her to her Newry home!
“I even h
ave a desk at home which my husband has affectionately nicknamed ‘JMP2’ (John Mitchell Place 2)!”
With over half a century completed and having only had three sick days, does Philomena think that now is the time to turn off the computer?
“I love my job as much as I did on my first day. I just love it here and have no plans to retire yet and still work five days a week.
“The staff here are great to work with, no matter who comes to work in John Mitchell Place, they love it.”
Leeza O’Brien, Specialty Doctor in Community Paediatrics, who nominated Philomena for her award, said:
“Philomena is a very compassionate and caring staff member who always strives to ensure that the needs of children are a priority.
“Due to her extensive length of service within Community Paediatrics, she will often be familiar with families through generations and they value this continuity, familiarity and her reliability.
“Nothing is ever an issue for Philomena. She looks after her colleagues like her family, offering a listening ear, words of advice or a cup of tea. So much so that we often refer to her as our “work mummy”.
“There is no one who deserves this recognition more.”
