21 November 2021

Andrew Talbot New has spent more than 35 years working as an Operating Department Practitioner (ODP). He led the theatre teams for six years as Head of Theatres before recently taking on a new role within the corporate nursing team.

Andrew started his healthcare career in 1986 when he started as a trainee at North Staffs Royal Infirmary.

He said: “Peri-operative care was so different then. For example, we didn’t have single use items – we would wash and decontaminate instruments and kit by hand. People’s stays in hospital were also far longer, there was no such thing as day surgery!”

At the age of 36 Andrew had built up enough experience in theatres and had developed a passion for leadership and governance. He moved to a new hospital to become a theatre manager and progressed through the management levels before eventually becoming Head of Theatres at Frimley Health in 2015.

Andrew said: “My passion for safe care and staff experience has always been a key priority, and on joining Frimley Health I knew I would be in an organisation where this passion could develop and flourish. I wanted to work in a place where the values were lived each day and I got that at Frimley Health.”

Andrew has a wonderful family of two adopted boys and a loving husband. He has decided to take early retirement in 2022 to be able to spend more time with them but hopes to remain working in healthcare on a part-time basis.