A big voice accompanies the big heart of Community Service Manager Rebecca Buswell, for the thoughtful Brummie is the drive behind Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust’s wonderful staff choir, which performed to great applause in July at Birmingham Council’s free summer concert.
Although Rebecca (30) has been with the Trust since 2011 she has only in the last few months taken up a new role which suits her compassionate nature, as Service Manager for the community and therapies group, focussing on driving real improvement of the services for the community.
“My job is mainly based around developing our palliative and end of life care services within the community and therapies group,” she explained.
“It also includes advanced care planning for patients within the last 12 months of life and working with the therapies team on frailsafe.”
Frailsafe is an initiative that looks at the best way to look after elderly patients who are in hospital, who may be frail and need particular support from a number of therapies such as physiotherapy and occupational therapy to get them home as quickly and safely as possible.
“My first role in the trust was mainly administrative, working for the corporate group in the planning team, which meant identifying opportunities for new services and improving existing ones. But I have always been looking for an opportunity to work directly with patients, as I enjoy connecting with them and their families.
“A normal working day for me includes working on upcoming developments, preparing and making presentations, and meeting with consultants, therapists and nursing staff.”
In her spare time, Rebecca continues to help people – as she is a qualified therapist – specialising in counselling vulnerable people at a low time in their lives, and bringing them back to a happy and positive outlook.
The thing that Rebecca loves most about her job is the good feeling she gets when she helps someone and feels important because of this.
“I love the fact that my job means something and has a purpose.”
Her future plans are to stay in her current area of work and build on opportunities to bring her career passions together with those she pursues in her spare time.
“I don’t know what the future holds, but I’d like to think that at some point I could run a service of my own, with the chance to practice as a therapist within it.”
When asked about her heroes, she said that she sees her late mom as an inspiration and it is her words that have constantly pushed her to enjoy her life.
“I would say that my mom is my hero as she taught me to always be happy.
“She spent a long time in an unsatisfying career, so in her 40s she made up her mind to train as a primary school teacher so that she would be in a job that she loved.
“This taught me that I shouldn’t do a job that I don’t enjoy, and to always look at doing things that make me happy. It is a win, win strategy as I tend to always look at the bright side of anything, which also makes those around me happy.
“I read law at university but did not enjoy it, so after obtaining my degree, I decided that I did not want to be a lawyer as I knew it would not make me happy, and so my career choice was driven by love, which in my book is a very good thing indeed.”
