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

Name: Natalie Reeves

Profession: Speech and Language Therapist

Where are you from?
Sydney, Australia

Current Locum position?
Currently working as a Grade 6 Locum Therapist

What do you enjoy about being a locum?
I enjoy meeting new people and having a taste of different work places. I love that you can travel while working in a job that allows you to make a difference in people’s lives.

Most memorable moment within your career?
This is a difficult question because working with clients for periods of time, seeing progress no matter how big or small is so exciting! However one of my more recent moments was when I was working with a dysphagia patient post stroke who was so determined to have a cup of tea. It was very special to see her improve throughout the weeks after her stroke. On my last day she managed to swallow the whole drink successfully using a technique we had worked on. She kept saying – ‘oh this is a GOOD cup of tea!’ And even joked she would call me in the future if her tea wasn’t so nice (I think it may be because she hadn’t had one for a while!!). It was great to see her progress as she was quite low after her stroke and within a few weeks her spark and energy had returned unique challenge was providing speech and language therapy to a severely aphasic actor after his stroke. I ended up in the studio helping to revise his role and rewrite his scripts so he could continue his acting career. That was a new one for me!

If you were stranded on a desert island what 3 items would you take?
1.) Lighter
2.) Gin
3.) blanket