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

Name: Lauren

Profession: Speech and Language Therapist

Where are you from? Wollongong -it's a city on the east coast Australia, just south of Sydney.

Current Locum position? Grade 6 SALT - currently my week is shared across multiple caseloads and teams.

Personal achievements within the role? Getting my head around such a varied caseload. I spend days in acute stroke, then at rehab, then the palliative care, cardiac, respiratory, renal, or infectious diseases wards. It's a challenge mastering the different documentation protocols and the various patient-specific factors influencing my clinical decisions.

What do you enjoy about being a locum? I like that I can move around Britain every few months. This is sort of an extended holiday for me before I move back to Australia. I schedule work around whatever holidays I plan and while I am working. Plus I can live like a local and experience various parts of Britain that I wouldn't typically see if I were just visiting for a holiday.

Most memorable moment within your career? Last year I presented my research at the Australasian Society for Studies in Brain Injury (ASSBI) conference. That was exciting because it was an opportunity to educate and learn from the allied health community about new developments in speech therapy and traumatic brain injury. (I also got to use a laser pointer.)

If you were stranded on a desert island what 3 items would you take?
All boring things I suspect:
1 ) Flint stones -I've seen a few lost-in-the-wilderness films and the main problem always seems to be fire and shelter. With flint I would make a bonfire while I wait for rescue.
2 ) Axe -that's obviously a must for chopping wood and coconuts and such.
3 ) A really nice, warm blanket, preferably one that was water proof on the underside