Case study: Sarah Hartle
When we spoke to NHS Test and Trace clinical contact caseworker Sarah Hartle last month, she was excited about the opportunity to put years of hard work into practice. Sarah, 34, from Manchester, has been a dental nurse ever since she left school and has been studying at university to become a dental hygienist. She successfully gained her qualification on the day the country went into lockdown back in March. Although she was frustrated that she couldn’t start her new role she was keen to use her training as part of the NHS Test and Trace process. She said: “As an NHS clinical contact caseworker, I am responsible for liaising over the phone with Covid-19 patients, understanding their situation and assisting in the tracing of anyone they have been in contact with.” Sarah has dealt with many cases since she started the role, from elderly patients, parents struggling to look after their children whilst ill, to a lady that had just given birth. The mother of two young children said: “The number of cases is now dropping, which is fantastic news. “I really feel like we’ve helped to make a difference in that as a team! “Updates have been made to the system that has made our roles as contact tracers even more effective. “For example, as travel regulations changed, so did the system, allowing us to collect the relevant information from patients for taxi rides and international travel, which has been invaluable. “The translation service is wonderful and the document outlining procedure is easy to follow, quick, and works extremely well. I have used the translation service on a call and found that the patient responded very positively. “Inevitably, we have come across queries in the role as each patient is so different, but these queries have all been fed back to the system developers who are continually updating the system for the better. “This makes it much easier to identify outbreak risks for patients and contacts, and collect the correct information in one call to the patient, meaning we can act more swiftly in escalation, contact tracing and protecting people. “I am really enjoying being part of NHS Test and Trace. My role is crucial in helping to stop the spread of the virus so that we can continue to ease lockdown. NHS Test and Trace will only work though if people engage with us and play their part to work together for the greater good to stop the spread of the virus.”