21 May 2024

Bookings team bid farewell to colleague retiring after 37 years

“It’s simple, I like what I do!” said Sarah Stevens, who retired last week after doing the same job in the same team for the last 37 years. The Frimley Health veteran joined Heatherwood’s Trauma and Orthopaedics and Plastics bookings team in 1987 liaising with patients to book appointments for foot and ankle procedures.

“It was very different when I started. There were no computers and each consultant had their own book which was much more time consuming. We used to sit down during Royal Ascot week as there were no appointments when the races were on and manually go through the pages of the book for a whole year!” explained Sarah.

Maria Barnard, Team Leader Plastics and Orthopaedics, and Liz Dean, General Manager Heatherwood Elective Centre, lead the celebrations with more than 30 of Sarah’s colleagues gathering in Greenwood offices to mark her last day.  

“The people I have worked with over the years have been fantastic, a lot of them are friends rather than colleagues. I also built a special bond of trust with the surgeons. The bookings team have an important role to play, we are often the first people patients speak to so we can shape their perception of the NHS and make their experience at the Trust as good as it can be.”