Title - Tags - callumstory
What’s my mission as a radiographer? Ironically, as it turns out, I believe the answer came to me from an NHS document. Probably a mission statement of some kind. I can’t remember. But it said something to the effect of: “without the patient, we woudln’t exist. Everything we do is guided by the needs of the patient.” That made total sense to me as a long-term aim to guide my decision making. So I adopted it as my credo.
I started trying to see everything through the eyes of the patient. Should we do this? Well, is it the best thing for the patient? If not, then no - what would be the best thing for them? I started looking for opportunities to improve patient care. I did a master’s in health research because I believed it would help me develop the skills to make evidence-based decisions. After, I took systems of care applied successfully elsewhere and brought to my employer because I knew they would improve the care of patients in our NHS trust.
Earlier, I said it was ironic that my mission came from an NHS document. Why? Because I soon discovered that, collectively, the NHS did not share my philosophy. If you asked most NHS employees if they thought that it’s all about the patient, they would agree. But I observed that decisions were very rarely made in the interest of the patient. Instead, they were made based on the hierachical standing of those involved in the decision-making process. They were made to protect the “belief system” those people had of their profession, their department, the budgets, what would/wouldn’t work. Anything or anybody that questioned this belief system was quashed. “That’s not how we do things around here” became my least favourite saying.
In truth, all of this only became clear to me years after becoming disillusioned and changing career. At the time, I was intensely frustrated. I directed my frustration at the people who couldn’t see what I saw. Now? Now I realise that I was unequipped to take on the mission I’d set myself. Like a soldier intent on destroying terrorism, sent to Afghanistan on day one with no training. But I was smart enough, at least, to accept that I was failing in my mission and that I needed a new one. And I was smart enough to discover that placing myself at the helm of an organisation of my own would give me the freedom to choose any mission I wanted and chase it like a rabid dog.
[#kennedyIWW]: Dan S. Kennedy: Influential Writing Workshop.