Pinderfields' Glynis books one million appointments over the course of 50 year career

Glynis Nolan, 68, started her career at Clayton Hospital as part of the Outpatients Medical Records team in 1972. Mainly booking breast clinic appointments in her role at Pinderfields today, Glynis estimates that she has booked a million appointments over the course of her career.

Glynis’s first job was at Wakefield Council where she worked for two years until the opportunity arose at Clayton Hospital.

Her first role was as a receptionist which she then progressed to becoming a booking clerk and then to a fast-track booking clerk in Clayton Hospital until it closed in 2012, when she transferred to Pinderfields Hospital.

Glynis said: “I’m happy and enjoy doing the work that I do, especially fast-track. I get to speak to patients every day, I try to help them and reassure them. I’ve done it for so long, it is just second nature to me now.

“My favourite thing about working for the NHS is dealing with patients. I know it is just over the phone, but you do have to reassure them, especially with the elderly.”

Working in the NHS for five decades, Glynis has seen how it has markedly changed over the past half a century. She said: “Working for the NHS has changed radically over the last 50 years.

"Nothing is as straightforward as it used to be, we try to get patients booked in within 14 days but some people want to be seen the next day which is sometimes challenging.

“My role is to get them in as quickly as possible and reassure them about what they are going to have done when they come in, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t but on the whole, people are very good.”

Glynis currently works part-time and is looking forward to her 69th birthday next year. She says she may retire next year before she turns 70.

“I keep saying next year, and then it gets to next year, and I say next year again," she said

"It all depends on how I feel next year, hopefully before I’m 70!”

Making up for lost time over the past two years, when Glynis is not working she enjoys travelling the world.

She just got back from a few days in Ibiza where she spent time in a nightclub and she is planning to go to Lanzarote next month and Dubai in September.

To mark her 50 year anniversary working for the NHS, Glynis was presented with a long service certificate for her valued work of putting the patient at the heart of all she does.

“It was a shock to be given the certificate for my services, I wasn’t expecting it”, she said.

“I enjoy playing my part in the patients’ journey, supporting anxious patients by treating each person with care and respect. I wouldn’t change a minute of the past 50 years.”

Michelle Beaumont, Lead Cancer Manager, said: “We want to thank you Glynis for all you do for our patients and colleagues at the Mid Yorkshire Hospital NHS Trust. You are an amazing asset.”