News and Events

Mar
09
2021

International Women’s Week 2021: Sam Chapman

To mark International Women’s Day, we are celebrating our fantastic female colleagues at the OrthTeam Centre. Here we find out more about our General Manager, Sam Chapman:

Sam Chapman

What made you get into healthcare?

I come from a small mining town in South Yorkshire.  I left school at the height of the miners’ strike in the early eighties when opportunities were scarce.  It was unheard of for someone like me to go to University. I had no career plan or any yearnings to do anything specific. I went to college and studied business, as I figured it would give me some baseline transferrable skills that I could use, if and when, I decided on a career direction!

A friend of mine managed to get me linked in with a local hospital and I started my first job with the NHS as a junior clerical officer in the psychogeriatric unit, as they were then known. I had some of the best times there, colleagues became loyal friends and I learned a lot about the background workings and support teams in a hospital. It’s not all doctors and nurses! My role did involve going onto the wards. Those days were the best! Watching the nursing team interacting with people at their most vulnerable was very humbling. It was obviously a rewarding job, challenging and a lot more complex than you would first think.

How did you decide that a career in nursing was for you?

My line manager at this time, Judy Oates, who was such an inspirational person to me, certainly one of my early role models, said I should consider going to university to do a Health Service Managers degree. Judy was very ambitious, super organised and so bright! The manager’s degree looked a bit “dry” and didn’t really appeal to me. What I wanted to do was “learn on the job”, challenge myself and be like the nurses on the wards.  So nurse training it was! I trained in Leicester and again met some amazing people, friends for life in some instances. I lived in the nurses’ home, overlooking Filbert Street Football ground – free matches every other Saturday!

From there I headed to London to St Mark’s Hospital on City Road to work in colorectal nursing and again, it was an amazing experience with so much to learn. I stayed “down South” for just over 10 years working in Bromley, Surrey and Kent, then returning to South London where I took a position as junior cardiac catheter lab nurse at Kings College Hospital. Hands up at this point, I had not a clue what a cardiac catheter lab was, but I had just had my daughter Rosie and I needed a non-shift work job so thought I’d give it a go. 

Many years later the Sister that interviewed me (another role model) Alison Brandon, said it was obvious I had no clue what I was talking about, but she knew I would add a new dynamic to the team, that I was willing to learn and was obviously passionate about doing the right thing for patients. She had a “gut feeling”! I learned such a lot from Alison, calmness under pressure, a smile for everyone (even when the day was tough and challenging) and to sometimes trust your “gut feeling”. Patient contact in the catheter lab is sometimes minimal, you touch their lives for the briefest of moments, but the difference you can make is tremendous and that I think is the joy of this industry. Making a difference with just a smile or holding a hand. A privilege to be honest.

What attracted you to your role at OTC and what do you enjoy most about it?

The OrthTeam Centre is a new venture with exciting potential, like a blank canvas waiting for my team to add some colour and shape to the services we provide. This is what excites me about being at the helm. I have the privilege of working with world class clinicians who are at the top of their careers. I have a team of allied health professionals and administrators who relish the prospect of developing bespoke services for patients, responding to their needs and to make a positive difference. As the OrthTeam Centre is a joint venture (JV), it’s amazing to have the breadth of experience of the JV board to tap into for guidance, steer and mentorship. 

What is your proudest achievement?

Professionally, I think supporting Spire Manchester to its CQC outstanding status in 2019 was certainly something to shout home about! Personally? Well it’s been tough, I’m a single mum to three amazing children. As with all mums, I tend to beat myself about not always being there because I work, but it’s done them no harm, they understand and it's actually made them the resilient well rounded and mature young adults they are today and that makes me proud. Although they still drive me mad and apparently I am a bit of a “fun sponge”!

Which women inspire you?

In my circle, then it would have to be Dawn Davies, the Director of Clinical Services as Spire Manchester. She is a true professional. She cares about doing the right thing for her patients, leading by example.  She makes time to care for her staff. Her energy is boundless and her smile lights up a room from a thousand paces. Also, Doreen Lawrence, the mother of murdered Stephen Lawrence. As a mother, I cannot imagine the pain of losing a child, let alone the agony of knowing that he had been murdered because of the colour of his skin. Her determination to seek justice for her son and to change the face of policing is beyond imaginable. To have such steel and strength at a time of vulnerability can only be admired and she continues to fight for reform.

I also love Tudor history and what better woman to blaze a trail then Queen Elizabeth I, my favourite historical icon. She was intelligent, multilingual, fierce yet caring. Elizabeth’s blend of shrewdness, courage, and majestic self-display inspired loyalty and helped unify the nation against foreign enemies. Some of her mottos hold well today “I see and keep quiet” – a great tip for some even now.

What do you enjoying doing in your downtime?

I love football. Any match will do as long its well-played! Much to my son’s disappointment (or should that be disgust!) I am an Arsenal supporter.

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