By Mia Fisher-Howe on June 17, 2022
Alison, our Customer Services & Quality Manager has been at Spirit from almost the very beginning. As she hits her 10-year anniversary mark, she talks us through how she ended up at Spirit, what her role covers, how Spirit has changed and what has been her biggest challenge and highlight. Over to you, Alison!
Alison at her desk in Spirit House – 2022
Before I started at Spirit Health, I worked for an Environmental Spillage Control company for 14 years. I did a wide range of roles there, all the way from Admin Assistant, to Customer Services Manager, to Sales Rep. I decided to leave when the hours on the road became too long and I wanted to be there for my daughter when she sat her GCSEs.
After I left that role in 2012, I was slightly in limbo and Chris (our CEO) offered me a temporary position in Customer Services as they needed a little bit of help. After this, I was due to return to my old job to cover maternity leave and then look for something full-time. However, after three months, I was offered a full-time position at Spirit and 10 years later, I’m still here… So, you could say that me and Spirit seemed to be made for each other! Now you can find me most days in Spirit House (our office).
Some of the Spirit family on a sponsored 15 mile walk for Alex’s Wish – 2021
When I first started at Spirit Health, there were only around five members of staff, so it has been crazy to have watched it grow to almost 200. On my first day, I spent an hour with Chris where he handed me a blood glucose meter, talked me through its use and sent me away, the rest they say is history… After being a Customer Services Coordinator for one year, I moved to Quality Management (which was something I had never dabbled in before) and worked on (successfully) getting us an ISO9001 certification status.
Fundraising for Teenage Cancer Trust – 2015
After spending four years in that role, I returned to Customer Services as our Manager, which is where I am still today. My day-to-day role covers:
- Managing the Customer Services team, reception & office
- Managing building/office maintenance
- Health and safety at Spirit House
- Complaints (on the rare occasion!)
- Internal approvals and making sure everything is seen by the right person
- Various other things
Being here for 10 years means I have seen many changes throughout the business and watched the company grow from strength to strength along with meeting brilliant staff (lots of which are still here). From watching Telehealth evolve into our remote monitoring solution, CliniTouch Vie, to the launch of our structured diabetes education course EMPOWER, it has been amazing to see all teams working together to make Spirit what it has become today, not to mention all the hard work behind the scenes that Chris has put in.
Type Onesie Day – 2014
When reflecting on my biggest highlight and challenge from my time at Spirit, it seems to fall under one umbrella: COVID-19. When all office staff left to work from home, my team’s work could not be done remotely. So, I stayed with my team to manage the office and keep it running smoothly. All customers, hospitals and surgeries could still have the full services from us that they were used to. Then came the challenge of CliniTouch Vie as demand skyrocketed and it was all hands-on deck whilst carrying on with our daily duties, so it was quite a challenge!
Sten-do for a couple of the Spirit family – 2017
Despite having too many highlights to count, one of my biggest ones is getting through the pandemic with my brilliant team. The support at Spirit Health is unmatched and as cliché as it sounds, we are really a family. We are so proud that we were able to help healthcare professionals and patients during a time of unprecedented uncertainty.
If I were to describe my time at Spirit in three words, they would be challenging, fun and most of all rewarding. Everyone works hard to make health easy, but importantly, they have a bit of fun whilst doing so, so I have loved my 10 years here.
