MY staff stories
Latest stories from colleagues across the Trust.
An insight into medical photography
Joe is a Medical Photographer, primarily based at Pinderfields, although his team covers all our sites. Here, he shares a little about himself, what his role involves, and how he got into it.
What does your role involve?
Taking photographs of various wounds, ailments and lesions for documentary and diagnostic purposes, as well as staff portraits, processing images and keeping a confidential, searchable archive of clinical photographs.
What's the best thing about your role?
In general, I really enjoy getting all about the hospital and meeting my patients, and knowing that I’m a part of their care. I also enjoy getting to see and learn about areas of medicine I previously had no knowledge of. My favourite area to work is theatre. It’s such a different environment, and so varied. I love feeling like a part of that.
Is there an aspect of your work that makes you feel most proud?
I’m incredibly proud that we’re able to provide a quality service to our patients, and to the many departments we provide a service to. The pictures we take are really high quality, and we’re always striving to do better. A lot of what we do is used for teaching, particularly by the plastics, burns and vascular teams.
Some of the pictures I’ve taken have been used in presentations around the world, and even used in textbooks! I love knowing that people are using my pictures for education.
Before I started university in 2007, I saw on the news that there were more photography students in the UK than there were photography jobs in the whole of Europe, so it makes me really proud to be able to use my training in a way that benefits people!
Has your department had any compliments from either patients, visitors or staff?
I am quite frequently complimented on my manner by patients, which always means a lot because I try really hard to put folk at ease – nobody expects there to be photographers on site, so it can be a bit discombobulating when we turn up.
As a department, we get some lovely comments about the quality of our work, and the swiftness with which we carry it out. It’s always nice to feel valued.
How did you get into your role?
I graduated from Sunderland University in 2010 with a degree in photography, video and digital imaging and, like all good arts graduates, I immediately took on a role in hospital administration.
During my degree course, which was very focused on the fine arts side of things, the subject of medical photography had never been mentioned. This is something I have in common with most of my colleagues!
Fortunately, when I started work at the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle, I was working in the ophthalmology department who had a strong working relationship with the photography team in the hospital. I got to know them pretty well and, after some work experience opportunities, I was able to join them.
There’s a post-graduate degree course to undertake in order to qualify fully (still one of my proudest achievements, don’t tell my kids), and I’ve never looked back.
Joining the team in Wakefield in late 2019 presented me with a great set of new challenges, which I hope I’m still rising to; I’ve learned loads, and there’s loads more to come.
What do you like to do in your own time?
I have two kids who keep me pretty busy, so mostly I’m fielding questions about Minecraft which I have no hope of answering, or trying to explain to my three year old daughter why rocket lollies aren’t breakfast. Left to my own devices, though, I’ll be watching some episodes of Doctor Who from the 1960s.