Carmel is a member of the environmental management team, which oversees numerous nonclinical services in the Trust. She reels them off in a list which includes catering, telecommunications, cleaning and buildings, to name but a few.
One of her main roles is to look after all the Trust signage and keep it up-to-date. This is not an easy task when moves and relocations happen, but it is absolutely vital for patients, staff and visitors to be able to find their way around our sites easily.
So, next time you read a notice which says, "Sorry for any inconvenience", it will probably be Carmel's handiwork. She prepares apology notices and re-directional signs when there are refurbishments, temporary road or car park closures.
When a ward has been refurbished, or when a department move is nearing completion, Carmel helps managers and staff agree on the appropriate signs for their new area. She then goes back later to check that the signs are all up in the correct place and look suitable.
Since the smoking ban, Carmel has been busy communicating the fact that the Trust is a non-smoking environment to staff, patients, visitors and, in fact, everyone - on every site!
Thankfully, Carmel has worked at St Helier, Sutton, Epsom and even the old Queen Mary's site in Wallington since she started with the Trust in 1989, so she knows the hospitals' layouts like the back of her hand.
"The environmental management team today is very customer-focused," she says. "We're really passionate about customer service because we know it makes a difference."
Outside of work, Carmel is a regular theatre-goer, and is a fan of London's premiere new writing venue, The Royal Court.
She has two grandchildren and a passion for travelling. This year, for her 60th birthday, she undertook the six day voyage from New York to Southampton on the Queen Mary 2, which was "amazing". She is currently saving up to travel to Venice on the Orient Express. "I tend to get airsick," she says, "So from now on I'm trying to travel by boats and trains as much as possible!"
What does she like most about working for the Trust? "Working with a great team; and the contact with patients. To know that whatever we do, the end result has a direct impact on them for the better."
