After twenty years with the trust my career options for progression and career development became very limited, so when the opportunity arose to take voluntary redundancy (MARS) i decided it was time to explore other avenues.

See CV For Full DetailsResponsible for the IT server Infrastructure for the Trust. Responsible for the design, development, implementation and maintenance of all server integrated solutions throughout the Trust. Produce and maintain up to date documentation, policies & procedure notes for the entire server infrastructure.Proactively monitor and manage the Trusts’ server to highlight trends, and resolve end user/network/security issues. Responsible for proactive development and implementation of both day to day and long term strategic plans to improve to the technical infrastructure, including capacity planning, continuity planning, change control, configuration, auditing, asset management and systems documentation to improve patient care and the Trust’s general performance. Responsible for documentation provision and training of designated MI&T IT support staff to execute specified server hardware and software changes within a change control environment. This included one to one knowledge transfers as well as regular presentations to all support staff as well as the ongoing mentoring of the junior members of the team. Manage the prioritisation of all related issues through liaison with the managed helpdesk and 3rd parties, adhering to department guidelines and procedures. To work with Senior Managers across the Directorates, LSPs (Local Service Provider) and other internal NHS & external organisations to ensure their server requirements associated with the Trust are understood and met in a timely manner. To provide expert advice on the development of the Hospital and other organisations /  Hospital trusts server infrastructure to aid selection of most cost effective viable infrastructure solutions using latest technology whilst ensuring that local and national standards are adhered to and complied with during implementation. To provide 2nd / 3rd line support in other IT support areas subject to available knowledge. Participation on the technical on call.

See CV for Full Details, Along with Band 7 Acting Band 8 for 2 years Key responsibilities, My other key roles were to Managed a team of Band 4, 5 and 6 technicians plus Computer Services coordinator. Negotiate with internal and external customers relating to service level agreements, resource management communicate with suppliers, Other NHS trusts / organisations, Internal and external stakeholders plus All grades of staff throughout the hospital including departmental heads and Members of the IM&T team . As part of line management responsibilities, matters relating to;- absence management, recruitment, career development, grievance, disciplinary matters and appraisals. Project status, including internal and external dependencies, impact analysis, risk assessment, and mitigation, financial cost and end user impact. Communicate information to enable customers to gain a better understanding relating to status of outstanding calls, e.g., customers may be frustrated or unaware of any reasons behind any delays, this requires resolution of conflicts through negotiation / cooperation. Trains less experienced staff on areas of expertise, e.g. SMS, Citrix, third line support issues. Testing of new and upgraded Microsoft Back office applications whilst ensuring its compatibility with the network, operating systems, servers, existing software and operating systems and ongoing training and support requirements. I also managed a network cabling team which I helped to set up from scratch. The team was designed to cut out the need for third party cabling contractors for the trust and would work alongside the estates Department. This was also income generation for the trust as we did cabling for the hospitals which brought in extra revenue helping with our CRS reduction.

See CV for full details, line manage the Technical Support section including all workload and prioritisation, recruitment , career development, appraisals, attendance management, grievance and disciplinary procedures. Manage workload and allocate resources within the team to ensure delivery of service , Service Level Agreements. Prioritise workload to ensure least risk to organisation. Work with External Suppliers with regards to day to day delivery, manage, service level agreements. Communicate status and ensuring least impact to end user. Responsible for budget resources, personnel and physical for my department. Responsible for managing pc replacement, overtime and training. Work to ensure CRS measures are implemented and targets met. To evaluate, develop and implement technical support strategies, incorporating remote support mechanisms, programming. To evaluate and assess new IT technologies, liaise closely with all areas of the Trust, external suppliers and other NHS organisations Involving analysis and evaluation of hardware, software, operating systems and services and relevant interactions and interdependencies.( e.g. testing of new and upgraded Microsoft Backoffice applications whilst ensuring its compatibility operating systems, servers, existing software and operating systems training and support requirements). To design, develop, maintain, troubleshoot, repair and manage Trust wide IT equipment including, desktop PCs, laptops, printers and any other supported peripherals such as PDAs and scanners at a third line support level. Responsible for the auditing and asset management of IT equipment. To participate in projects relating to the development and service improvement of the technical support technical resource and project leader in more general technical support projects.

See CV for Full Details Manage bands 3 and 4 technicians. Managing 1st and 2nd line support. (We later moved to a 2 tier system where we had call loggers and Duty technicians supporting the service desk. We dealt with around 2000 calls per month at this time). -Act as an escalation point where difficult or controversial calls could be directed. -Determine root cause of issues and communicate appropriately with customers and third-party users. -Liaise with, clinicians, senior management, department heads and line management including customer base when dealing with issues that can significantly impact business. -To monitor and log any server related issues, monitor iguana channels, solar wins, Call queues and hangups. -Develop and implement processes and procedures to ensure constant delivery of service and support and manage complaints regarding IT issues. -Attend the weekly change advisory board meetings -Promote the image of the service desk -Achieve delivery targets, customer service and support performance. Provide data and reporting on KPI’s and trends to departments within IMT with weekly and monthly reports Including Bespoke reports when needed . -Manage staff rotas to make sure that there is significant staff at all times to cover needs of the trust. -Manage staff appraisals in conjunction with the technical support manager and to make sure that they are up-to-date with all training including 1:1 fortnightly reviews.

Maintain, troubleshoot, repair and manage desktop PC’s, laptops, printers, PDA’s and scanners to an intermediate support level. Participate in projects relating to the ongoing development and service improvement. Train other less experienced staff and mentor the junior members of the support team. Assist with any documentation as well as assisting the senior support team in support processes and procedures. Provide technical training, support to customers for hardware, software and services that are supported by the technical support team. To administer server operating system, user administration functions using common directory service. The creation, modification and deletion of user and computer accounts, change passwords and other basic and intermediate level systems administrative duties. Perform networking duties such as patching in cat5 cabling to hub cabinets for data and voice and other such duties as required working independently within guidelines. Troubleshoot intermediate and multi stranded complex desktop network connectivity issues involving protocols such as TCP/IP as well as physical connectivity issues. Undertake the installation, maintenance and troubleshooting of client operating systems. Undertake the installation, maintenance and troubleshooting of the supported desktop products. Support and troubleshoot to a senior level the rest of the commonly used and supported software used throughout the Trust to a professional level. Maintain as appropriate any associated documentation and logs in accordance with Help desk, audit and asset management, technical and change management responsibilities. To ensure that all relevant personnel are kept informed of any actions or issues that might cause delays in providing timely help desk and technical services support. Provide an effective, responsive and user-friendly second / third line telephone support function for the IT technical support help desk when required, Participate in 24 hour on-call support.

See CV for Full Details My responsibilities were to provide a range of 2nd line technical support throughout the Trust. There were some 3rd line duties with support from senior staff members when required. Support including hardware, HP Pcs /laptops, Kyocera printers and PDAs etc. Software support for trust programs Microsoft office and Clinical programs, intermediate network support, user account management using active directory. At the time we were using Windows 2000 and Windows XP, basic Server work on server 2003 and 2008, good knowledge of F-Secure anti-virus products and encryption (safe boot). Work with Microsoft's Outlook troubleshooting connected to Microsoft Exchange Server 5. Some understanding of Citrix presentation server 4.0 and network printer troubleshooting. Other responsibilities were the training of junior staff been able to help with the service desk and been able to work in the server environment i.e. data centres participating in the tape backup regime on a daily basis. To help with projects under supervision from senior technical support and project management and any associated administrative and clerical duties. Other responsibilities were being able to understand security issues and problems and been able to communicate them to customers in the clear understanding way. Ability to identify, assess & resolve problems originating from a number of factors. The ability to understand and prioritise issues and solve accordingly. Ability to understand the environment and prioritise issue resolution accordingly both verbally and in report form.

Providing an effective, responsive and user-friendly first line support function for the IT support service desk / technician roll, involving the provision of general IT support, advice and assistance to customers as well as accurately recording, logging and progression of all technical support calls using lotus notes. Knowledge of Microsoft Office 95, Windows 95 and Windows 95 Poledit, Windows NT 4.0 Workstation. Work with NT administration tools User Manager for Domains, and work with (Server Manager and Domain Name Service Manager under supervision) Work with Lotas Notes and Novel. Set up of network printers using HP Jetdirect Cards. Provide an effective first line support to customer enquiries relating to queue management, together with escalation to the support technicians. Follow-up on calls where there is no evidence of satisfactory progress to resolution, to seek explanations for any delay on calls . Provide Technical support solutions where appropriate within the Trust. To contribute and participate in infrastructure department projects as required as a technical resource. General systems administration duties including, creating new passwords and changing existing passwords and other basic IT systems functions. Maintain, troubleshoot, repair and manage desktop PC’s, laptops, printers and any other supported peripherals such as PDA’s and scanners to a basic / intermediate support level. Also provide assistance, support and training to users in the basic operation and usage of their IT equipment and supported software via the phone. To troubleshoot basic desktop network connectivity issues involving protocols such as TCP/IP as well as physical connectivity issues, Jet Direct Cards, Pc's/laptops and printers. Check and monitor the daily server backups, update backup logs, advise senior technical support personnel of problems and change media as required.

To make sure all showroom and forecourt cars were detailed on a daily basis. To Valet second-hand vehicles to a high standard some second-hand cars could take up to 2 days to Valet depending on their condition. This would include a full steam clean, wheels removed and cleaned, interiors scrubbed clean, renovation of paintwork, touch ups and scratches dealt with. If scratched too severely the car was booked into the body shop, any damaged trim replaced. Here I was responsible for cars ranging from £20,000 to £100,000. I needed to coordinate with the sales teamto make sure that all new cars had been booked in for their PDI check and coordinatie with the service department to make sure that my team had cars in time to have them Cleaned and detailed before customer delivery. For show on the main forecourt, any vehicle that was not suitable for retail, i.e. not a BMW, high mileage or poor condition were prepared and organised to go to auction or local car dealers depending on condition. To make sure that equipment and stocks were ordered, rags, diesel, polish, compound, wheel cleaner and traffic film cleaner etc. Our busiest time was August and January where my team and I would need to check in and Valet hundreds of cars for August 1 and January 1, all cars that came in as part exchange would need to be dealt with and ready for sale. Other responsibilities were to make sure that cars were picked up and dropped off at customer's homes/workplace before and after servicing this could average 10 cars a day from customers who took advantage of this service. This could average as far as Neston, Northwich, Wrexham and the surrounding areas i. This meant working closely with the service department helping coordinate deliveries and working closely with the after sales team to make sure new and second-hand cars were ready for collection so we could make sure none of the services clashed with each other and that customer satisfaction was the main priority.

As part of a 3 man valeting team we were responsible: For all showroom cars and showroom floor which were buffed and cleaned, forecourt cars were detailed on a daily basis and put through the car wash once a week. To valet second-hand vehicles to a high standard a full steam clean, wheels interiors stripped out and scrubbed clean, renovation of paintwork, touch ups and scratches dealt with. It was my responsibility to care for cars ranging from £20,000 to £200,000. We dealt with Ferraris, Porsche, BMW, Mercedes, Rolls-Royce and many other expensive prestigious cars. We needed to coordinate with the sales team to make sure that all new cars had been booked in for their PDI check and coordinating with the service department to make sure that we had cars in time to have them cleaned and detailed before customer delivery. For show on the main forecourt, any vehicle that was not suitable for retail, any high mileage or shoddy or in bad condition were prepared to go to auction or local car dealers depending on condition. Our busiest time was August and January where we would need to check in and Valet hundreds of private and fleet cars, including mobility cars for August 1 and January 1. All cars that came in as part exchange would need to be dealt with and ready for sale. Other responsibilities were to make sure that cars were picked up and dropped off at customer's homes/workplace before and after servicing this could average up to 10 cars a day from customers who took advantage of this service. This could average as far as Neston, Northwich. This meant working closely with the service department helping coordinate deliveries and working closely with the after sales team to make sure new and second-hand cars were ready for collection so we could make sure none of the services clashed with each other and that customer satisfaction was the main priority.