#TeamNorthMid blogs

Hi my name is Angela Kappa and I have been working as the business administration manager for North Mid - HIV Service based at Alexander Pringle Centre for the last six years. I am also co–Chair of the staff Ethnicity Network and the Equalities officer for our Unite the Union local North Mid branch.

My education background is in marketing - with a specific focus on health. The health sector has always been familiar territory to me as my maternal grandfather was an eye surgeon who trained at Moorfields Eye Hospital and also had his own very successful practice.

My family has various medical practitioners/pharmacists too so am very comfortable in this sector. I have a Master’s degree in health and social marketing which am pleased to say has come in very handy in the course of my career here at North Mid.

Another major influence in my life my beautiful maternal grandmother - Edith Mary who was a “mama” to all in her community, head of her regional Mother’s Union branch and a Canon in the Anglican Church. By far my maternal grandparents and wonderful parents have influenced and shaped me into the woman I am today.

The values I hold dear and try to emulate are what they instilled in me from a very early age. Luckily for me - I find they are well encapsulated into North Mid’s actual values of being caring, fair and open.  I am proud and very lucky to have been the recipient of the Promoting Equality, Diversity and Inclusion at Work Award at the 2021 Staff Awards along with my co-Chair George Osei –Bonsu. George and I share common goals and purpose and it is my sincere hope that we are making difference in North Mid (please let us know topics you would like tackled by the network in the comments below).

My ongoing journey at North Mid

I joined the “North Mid family” in 2012 as a bank admin worker in the estates department. I then moved on to other departments namely the outpatients department, then progressed to work as a medical secretary with various teams namely – ophthalmology, orthopaedics, colorectal and then the breast and general surgery team. I worked very hard in these departments and was determined to make a difference with the teams I worked with. I made great friends and had “work sisters” that shaped and mentored me along the way. To this day we socialise outside of work. This was a new way of working for me as having come from NHS London – (AHP team) in the city I was used to working as an individual or sticking to my own team.

When I was asked to do this blog I pondered long and hard about what I should write …..I decided to focus onto the future I want to help achieve and see in North Mid.

A few weeks ago during team brief our CEO Nnenna was asked “what she was going to do to bring change at North Mid”. Her answer to that question really intrigued me. She said change at North Mid was “our” responsibility and she was here to support, supervise and facilitate the process (paraphrased). In short the onus was on us to effect change at North Mid and create an environment we were proud to work in.

As such I thought about my responsibility as an employee and what I was doing to help effect change. I realised that I was in a privileged position to have the trust of my peers and represent them as mentioned above.

As someone who had access to senior executives as I feed back about network activities and having reverse mentored our former chief executrive, Andy Heeps, I had a great responsibility to advocate, promote and give voice to my colleagues at North Mid at all times and that this work was as important as the day job. As such my blog is about the future – what I hope to work hard to achieve and see at North Mid.

At the Alexander Pringle Centre (APC) we have a holistic approach to care –we have patients for “life” as we don’t discharge patients since HIV is a lifelong condition. We work hard to ensure the individual as a whole is looked after.

This got me thinking about the staff at North Mid and how we are faring on a day-to-day basis.  As we rush about doing our day-to-day jobs looking after our patients who is looking after us – at work and at home? Beyond the pay check, is the trust in anyway obligated to make sure we work in a holistic environment? Where other issues other than pay can be looked up and support sought if need be? 

Simple things like getting adequate breaks, mentorship and counselling facilities can make all the difference. These facilities though in existence I felt needed to be better supported from the top and visible to all via our intranet and all communication avenues – divisions and teams. This I believe was key to making sure staff well-being, retaining and performance on the job is achieved at North Mid.  

I believe this is where the networks come into play and it is my hope that we help buffer some gaps in these areas.

My future vision for North Mid

I would like to use my blog as an avenue to encourage all staff to engage with Network activities – the networks, Ethnicity, DiverseAbility, LGBTQ, discuss vital topics that can support you.

In May this year we held a Virtual Women’s Inclusion Seminar the topic was “Bring your whole self to work” and I hope this was a start of many. The future of North Mid to me includes a Women’s Network as we are the majority of the workforce. I hope to be part of the solution and discuss all things women.

Current issues of concern to me are gender pay gap, career progression (especially after having children), childcare hidden health challenges or disabilities, flexible working (Ethnicity Network is having LIA’s – look out for future dates in Autumn/Winter 2021/22) need to be discussed.     

North Mid over the years has changed for the better and continues to do so but I really believe it’s time for us women to shine even brighter – together. Let’s nurture each other and establish healthy work relationships with a common purpose.

As it’s Black History Month I would like to celebrate all Black, Asian and ethnic minority staff and congratulate you on your journey at North Mid thus far. Congratulations all for getting this far - from the Medirest cleaners to all senior managers. Thank you to my work family – who are as beautifully diverse and varied as North Mid is (you know who you are).

I am blessed to know and stand on the shoulders of giants – YOU.