Meet our teams

Mike Jillings is one of our pharmacists at QEH who treats and cares for those with a cancer diagnosis. He’s been associated with QEH for more than 35 years.

He told us:

“I first started at QEH way back in June 1986 and I’ve since worked at some of the largest teaching hospitals in the UK, as well as working in industry. So, I suppose the first question I should answer is, ‘Why do I keep coming back?’

“QEH is a such a friendly place. It doesn’t matter whether it’s your colleagues in pharmacy, the nurses, medical staff or other colleagues – they are all very friendly and supportive.

“And because it’s a smaller hospital, you get to know a lot more people than you otherwise would, and you get to be involved in a wider spectrum of care situations. I think in my time here, I’ve done a bit of everything: I’ve been involved in cancer, paediatrics (caring for children), gastroenterology (stomach problems), cardiac care, the whole works.

“The second thing is, you build up much tighter closer working relationships with clinicians and with patients – you have the chance to spend a bit more time, to get to know them, and get involved with their journey from diagnosis onwards. That’s probably the main reason I’ve kept coming back to QEH.

“It’s a very supportive environment for younger colleagues coming in to move up the career ladder, and we’ve had an active policy for many years of ‘growing our own’ – helping junior colleagues who, over time, gain the skills and knowledge to enable them to become specialists, managers and leaders. We’ve had a long, long history of supporting newly qualified young pharmacists and that’s been a real focus for me. I try support them as much as I can.

“The pharmacy team is very much a family: because it’s a smaller hospital you have got to be prepared to participate in everything. At QEH it’s very much a team effort – people do help each other and sort things out for you and, in return, you do the same. It’s just like having an extended family.

“QEH is at the heart of the community too: the links you’ve got here you find outside as well – for me that’s in sport, art, photography, horse-riding, outdoor pursuits and so on. You come across people from all over the trust who do those sort of things – there’s a great community spirit.

“If you’re thinking of applying for a job at QEH, don’t hesitate. Both for professional and quality of life reasons. It’s a very good place to learn, develop, get new skills and experience all the specialties. And on a personal level this is a very nice area to live – the local area is one of the reasons we’ve stayed so long: the Sandringham Estate, the beach, the restaurants of Burnham Market… You can have a decent quality of life and still get the career progression that you might expect from a larger institution.”