Hello, my name is Katie. I’m an Operations Manager for Contact Centres, currently supporting our Norfolk, Ipswich and National Home Working teams. I’m exceptionally proud to have started at IC24 on 27 October 2018 in the Norwich Contact Centre as a Health Advisor. During my time in this role, I gained experience as a Non-Clinical Coach and a Shift Lead, and in 2021 I secured a secondment to join the Team Managers in Norfolk.

In 2023, I moved into Operations Management to support the National Service Advisor Pilot. The following year, I worked as a Service Manager in the Service Delivery team, which broadened my understanding of the range of services IC24 delivers. Since July 2024, I have worked in Operations Management within Contact Centres, including a short period leading the Service Delivery team when the function was first established. In November last year, I was delighted to secure a permanent Operations role supporting our Contact Centre teams.

When I first joined IC24, I was looking for a role that fit around my young children while keeping childcare costs manageable. One of the things I value most about IC24 is how family-friendly we are as an organisation, and the flexibility that operating 24/7 offers to support colleagues. I was also looking for a role where I could make a difference and feel a sense of satisfaction, alongside maintaining a healthy work/life balance. I’ve always said it’s the people who make IC24, and that hasn’t changed. Nearly eight years on, it’s still my colleagues who make me look forward to coming into work each day.

In my current role, I line manage 111 Team Managers, supporting them to lead their teams and ensuring we deliver against our KPIs while providing a safe and effective service to patients. A key part of my role is engaging in project work to continuously improve our processes and working environment. Contact Centres are my home, and I take pride in balancing the needs of our people with those of our patients, ensuring both service delivery and colleague wellbeing remain a priority.

Being an Operations Manager is a varied role. My responsibilities include contributing to building redesigns, carrying out risk assessments, developing SOPs, supporting projects, meeting with colleagues to discuss feedback or concerns, managing underperformance, being on call for IC24, and working with ICBs and DoS Leads to improve service utilisation.

From 2023 to 2024, I was seconded to manage the National Service Advisor Pilot. This was a new concept delivered within a short timeframe. During its operation, the Service Advisor teams we onboarded supported over 213,000 patient calls from across the country. This experience gave me valuable insight into the breadth of the Operations Manager role, including leading managers, overseeing recruitment and onboarding, developing support functions, and creating a new role: the Service Advisor Coach Team.

From my very first day, I was trusted to step straight into leading project meetings. I’m incredibly proud of what we achieved during this time, and I learned a great deal from being part of building, delivering and improving a new service at pace. It was both a challenge and a hugely rewarding experience.

I genuinely believe there is so much to be proud of at IC24. One area that stands out for me is the strength of our wellbeing support compared to when I first joined. In 2020, Trauma Risk Management (TRiM) was introduced to IC24, and I was part of the first cohort trained as both a TRiM Practitioner and Manager. I later became the TRiM Coordinator.

TRiM is a peer-to-peer support service for colleagues who have experienced a traumatic event. Engagement with the service has remained strong, and it continues to be a key part of our wellbeing offer.

If I had to describe my role in three words, they would be dynamic, accountable and empowering. Something you might not know about me, but I’m always happy to talk about, is that I’m dyslexic. Dyslexia is a learning difficulty that primarily affects reading, writing and information processing, and it can impact education, work and everyday life. This is why I’m passionate about encouraging open conversations around long-term health conditions and exploring how we can best support colleagues to reach their full potential.

Finally, if there’s one thing I’d like to share, it’s that eight years ago I hadn’t imagined I would be in this role today. When the time feels right, I’d encourage everyone to speak to their manager about opportunities for personal development.