A fond farewell to Gill Gano

At the end of February, we will say a fond farewell to our wonderful colleague Gill Gano (also known as Gill Miller) as she retires after an astonishing 37 years’ service at PAHT. We recently caught up with Gill to reflect on her long service and great memories made during her time here; read more in her 60 second interview below:

When did you join PAHT? I joined the hospital 37 years ago in 1983 as an auxiliary nurse – we were allocated to a different ward each evening for the night shift and sometimes I would be allocated on two wards for the whole night shift, it was hard work but very rewarding.

Can you outline your different roles at the hospital? My role as an auxiliary nurse was to support nursing staff to carry out a wide range of duties, helping to care for our patients and provide support to their families. I worked on a variety of wards, including the children’s ward, until we were then allocated a specific ward. I was allocated to Ray Ward, which was an orthopaedic ward at the time, where I worked for 14 years. I then worked on Melvin Ward, which was a short stay surgical ward at the time, completing a variety of duties including scheduling surgeries for patients. I was then successful in applying for a secondment opportunity within the bed management team; this was a challenging role, which showed me how hard all of our colleagues in A&E and the ward staff work and also gave me the opportunity to interact with senior management regularly. After almost three years, I was seconded again into a pilot GP coordinator role, linking people within the local community with services and information, facilitating GP patients through the service and helping to carry out necessary changes – I thoroughly enjoyed this role. What is your current role? In 2010 I joined the medicine healthcare group as service support manager - I was seconded for two years into a service manager role for dermatology, rheumatology, and neurology, where I managed the strategic, financial and daily management of the services; I retired on a part time basis as assistant service manager. What was the most challenging role? My bed manager’s role was the most challenging role – there were four bed managers and no site team at the time. Can you describe any stand out moments? I’d have to say achieving a long and rewarding 37 year career and meeting so many amazing people throughout my career; I’ve made lifelong friends here. Everybody that you come into contact with is always so helpful and kind - from my colleagues in the medicine healthcare group, to switchboard, IT, the post room staff, porters and facilities etc. – everybody is lovely. I’d like to thank you all for helping me during my PAHT journey. What are your plans for retirement? I’m looking forward to relaxing in my little village and spending time with my family - I have seven sisters and three brothers who live across England and one in Canada.

A huge thank you to Gill for her hard work, dedication and commitment to PAHT, you have made a real difference for our patients and people – we wish you all the best and a happy retirement.