Each month Mediplacements would like to recognise one of our locums for their personal achievement and commitment to the Healthcare service!

Name: Ashlee Robertson

Profession: Speech & Language Therapist

Where are you from? Mount Gambier, South Australia

Current Locum position?
Specialist Speech & Language Therapist
ENT department, specialising in Head & Neck Cancer

Personal achievements within the role?
This position has been my most challenging to date. Its completely different to other roles I have done in an acute or rehabilitation setting. I am building core skills in assessment and intervention pre & post surgery & assessment & intervention pre, during & post chemoradiotherapy. I am also gaining experience with laryngectomy patients during this time.
Although this role is different to other roles where I just hit the ground running – I feel that I have become part of the SLT team & overall head & neck cancer team.

What do you enjoy about being a locum?
I love the flexibility of the work environments that you can work in. I also enjoy entering a new work place to help them at a time they need (usually due to short staffing). I also enjoy the opportunities to work on a range of different projects that occur in different departments across the UK.

Most memorable moment within your career?
I don’t think I could pick just one moment, but for me what is ‘memorable’ in this profession is the gratitude you receive from a patient or their family – to know you have helped a patient or their family in some way, whether big or small, is what I enjoy most about my job.

If you were stranded on a desert island what 3 items would you take?
1.) Chocolate!
2.) My iPod (can’t live without music)
3.) A bbq!