Here at Medical Staffing, we are proud to introduce our new Head of Clinical Performance, Lorraine Gray. Starting in January 2020, Lorraine has already jumped right into our mission to support healthcare professionals, ensuring that as a Medical Staffing clinician, you have the very best experience alongside the tools, support and guidance you need to make informed decisions about your career.
Lorraine is an important part of our COVID-19 operations and actively takes part in speaking with healthcare providers to identify their staffing needs and supplying them with the high-quality clinical talent they need. She is actively trying to improve our clients’ experience by using her wealth of understanding of the healthcare profession. She was the instigator of one of our most useful incentives; helping to ensure yearly QOF (Quality and Outcomes Framework) points for GP practices and facilities by providing clinicians to support with the paperwork and running the phone checks during this period.
We thought you might like to know more about our new powerhouse of knowledge and expertise, so we sat Lorraine down and found out more about her amazing work within UK healthcare.
More than 30 years’ healthcare experience at your disposal…
Lorraine holds 35 years of NHS experience, 25 in secondary acute care and 10 in primary integrated urgent care. This rich mix of experience has made her an expert and much-respected leader within the NHS. Her husband and daughter are also healthcare professionals working within the NHS, so ensuring the best service for patients and improving the lives of healthcare professionals is high on her priorities.
Lorraine’s last secondary care role was as an acute care Matron within the largest Trust in the UK. She honed her leadership skills walking the floors and understanding the pressures in all areas. In 2008 she was headhunted by an urgent care provider in the South of England, where she held positions of Managing Director, Interim CEO and Chief Operating Officer. Lorraine transformed the organisation, leading and implementing new and innovative services to over 7.5 million patients across England. In 2010, she project managed and implemented one of the first substantive services for NHS 111 in Great Yarmouth and Waverley.
Having taken early retirement in 2018, after just eight weeks of gardening and relaxation she was eager to get back into work and continue to help the UK healthcare community. She proceeded to set up a health care consultancy and provided advice to NHS Wales on their out-of-hours service, preparing for the implementation of NHS 111 and an integrated urgent care service.
She is an advocate of patient-centric care and, as an alumnus of ‘The Kings Fund Top Manager Programme’, she was highly commended for her mentorship and leadership skills. Lorraine has always been a champion of developing people to their full potential and working closely with teams to identify how services for patients can be delivered to achieve the best possible care. She feels it’s important to look at the whole patient journey and how primary care impacts on secondary care and vice versa.
Fun fact: Lorraine has a diploma in dog grooming!
Lorraine’s top priority with Medical Staffing
Lorraine wants to use her vast experience in acute care to help healthcare professionals feel that they have a voice. From making sure they have access to adequate PPE to ensuring efficient onboarding, Lorraine is dedicated to making sure healthcare providers have the best quality nurses and that locum clinicians get the best shifts that suit them. She wants nurses and healthcare professionals to communicate with her, be it to report an incident, good/bad audit score, or tell the real-life stories and experiences of being a real-life locum worker, so she can help make improvements.
Lorraine will be hosting two live Facebook Q&A sessions in our ‘Ask a clinician’ hour twice a week in May. Book an appointment via Facebook in advance to make sure she answers your questions. Watch this space to find out more!
If you would like to discuss staffing issues, or opportunities, or raise any concerns or just get have some questions answered, Lorraine is happy to speak with you.