Hello my name is… Sara Ayton.
I have worked for the trust since 2013 as a discharge coordinator when the role was developed. I’m a ‘Leeds lass’ and came to live in Calderdale in 2001. I am a single, very proud mum of four grown up children (youngest at university in Newcastle and eldest is an area manager for Premier Inn) I have four grandchildren, all babies! I love the outdoors and swimming and spent a few years working with teenagers and young adults as an Army cadet instructor. I have travelled the Far East and Middle East and lived in Bahrain for a short time but my true love is Greece and I try to go annually for my sunshine fix.
What is your position? Discharge coordinator.
Tell us about your career background? I have done so much over the years. Retail, catering, office manager, gardener at Bahrain Country club and even worked at Bradford City Football club. I’m lucky enough to have never been unemployed and worked weekends and nights when my children were little, and have always been very independent.
What are the best bits about your job? Some of my discharges are for palliative care and these are usually associated with a recent devastating diagnosis. Being the person that can arrange a package of care and tie up all the loose ends with social services, CCG, family, Care homes, equipment suppliers, district nurses, palliative care team, and the rest at a time of great uncertainty and anxiety for the patient is very rewarding.
What is the highlight of your career so far? Some really great feedback I had from a recent palliative patient and his son. The son sent me a lovely email well after Dad’s discharge to give me a progress report on how happy and settled his Dad was in his new care home. His Dad had even remembered our regular chats, Man U v Arsenal! To know that my assistance meant so much really buoyed me up.
Sum up your role in three words? Communication, Care, Compassion
What did you want to be when you were growing up? A simultaneous interpreter at the United Nations.
Who is your hero/heroine and why? Edith Piaf – a life of poverty, illness and tragedy with the voice of an angel and true devotion to God.
When you are not at work how do you relax? Cats, crosswords, and gardening, growing vegetables in my new greenhouse.Hebrew which I started to learning about two years ago and can have a basic conversation. I enjoy reading the Torah and have friends in Israel that I speak with online. I possibly plan to retire to Israel.
What is your favourite place? Tough one.. Judy Woods locally or Hong Kong.
What would people be surprised to know about you? I'm a naturist newbie and go to the local nudist camp in Elland of all places but plan to visit a naturist beach in Kephalonia in June.