Site Manager (Covid-19 Testing)
Oxford, England, United Kingdom
In the adolescences of the COVID-19 pandemic, I was presented with the opportunity to be redeployed into another Serco contract, the COVID-19 Testing Programme. Temporarily taking me away from my usual contract, Stoke Mandeville Stadium. I started off at one of the UK’s very first COVID-19 Testing Sites, Chessington Regional Testing Site (RTS). Here I quickly learned the testing process and procedures, became a site supervisor and was then asked by Serco to set up and manage the Oxford RTS. All within the space of just three weeks.Since starting the Oxford RTS, the operation grew from a pool of approximately 50 staff, to well over 200. This extreme growth was down to several factors: our site move in early July, which made Oxford RTS Serco’s largest testing site (in terms of total testing capacity); the takeover of our five Mobile Testing Units (MTUs), that were based at Oxford RTS and mobilised across several counties every day; and, the launch of the Oxford Local Testing Site (LTS), that was located in Oxford city centre to allow pedestrian access. This extreme growth was challenging to keep up with, however we managed to create a tight operation that was both efficient and professional across all departments. During the operation, I also had the pleasure of working with various organisations involved in the testing programme. Including: The Department of Health & Social Care; Deloitte UK; Oxfordshire County Council (to name just a few). These partnerships allowed me to utilise and learn from their experiences and expertise.This experience was certainly the most challenging of my career so far, pushing me to the limits of my organisation and people management skills as well as my ability to deal with high pressure situations. However this experience is also one that fills me with an enormous amount of pride and satisfaction. Knowing that I, and the teams I worked with, fulfilled a vital role to keep our communities safe and healthy during the pandemic.