60 seconds with Mark O’Halloran, Barts Ability Lead
To mark Dyslexia Awareness Month, Mark O’Halloran, Barts Ability Lead, shares his experience with dyslexia, what he loves most about his job and why he chose to become a BartsAbility lead.
Tell us a little bit about yourself?
Hello my name is Mark O’Halloran. I’ve worked at Newham Hospital since 2003 and have enjoyed every minute. I initially started as a support walker and have since worked my way up to Ward Manager on Maple and Clove Ward. Aside from working, I spend most of my time with my family, including looking after my one year old! I enjoy reading and going to the pub.
Why did you decide to become the BartsAbility to lead at Newham Hospital?
My own experience with disability has definitely driven me to take on a role where I can support others who are going through similar things. I have severe dyslexia and have always been very open about my disability to my team and colleagues across the trust. However, growing up my experience wasn’t quite the same. I actually wasn’t diagnosed with dyslexia until I was 28 years old. So school was pretty rubbish for me in this sense. At this time teachers weren’t trained to look out for disabilities such as dyslexia as they are now and I remember feeling increasingly frustrated in lessons that involved high levels of reading and writing. In fact, I remember one teacher rather dismissively advising my parents that I ‘simply wasn’t the brightest crayon in the pack’. It was humiliating and I wish there was someone who could have supported to me at the time.
Having worked at Newham for almost two decades I have become well connected throughout the site and believe this familiarity will help me make a difference. I truly believe that it’s how we care for those in need that defines your worth as an organisation. I believe that providing that extra bit of support for staff at Barts Health who have a disability will help increase our worth and help us ultimately provide better care to the people we look after.
What do you enjoy most about your job?
I couldn’t count how many thousands of patients have come in in pain and have walked out unaided and almost pain free. Seeing the immediate difference you can make to a person’s life following surgery is why I got into nursing. As a Ward Manager it’s all about watching your staff develop and having started at the bottom I love having the perspective to be able to relate to people, especially the more junior staff who are still developing their confidence.
As a Barts Ability Lead I’m looking forward to setting up focus groups to understand what staff here at Newham Hospital would like to get out of the Network. I believe there is definitely a need to be providing more support and awareness of disabilities to staff here which will ultimately help with recruitment and retention. To quote our We Care values, it’s all about making sure we’re equitable as an organisation.
Why is it important to support staff with disabilities?
It was actually colleagues at Barts Health who first spotted that I might be dyslexic. When I first started working as a healthcare assistant in theatres, I was asked to do an NVQ in theatre support and thereafter my difficulties with reading and writing became apparent. I was diagnosed very quickly as soon as I started the course and I’ve had assisted technology from that day.
At some point last year my computer malfunctioned and I temporarily lost the use of my dictation software. I was immediately thrown back to feelings of uncertainty and anxiety worrying that I wasn’t understanding and articulating myself to the best of my ability. I was initially offered a PA to help me with emails while my software was fixed but I couldn’t bare to have to rely on other person to do my job, I simply wanted to be independent! Thankfully, my computer issues have been fixed and I feel back to my old self.
The dictation technology has been transformative and having that support has truly helped me reach my potential. I want every member of staff, including those with disabilities to reach their absolute potential at Barts Health.
Have any ideas you'd like to share with Mark around BartsAbility? Get in touch!