Wright on Cue!

Edge Hill graduate Helen Wright was certainly well prepared for a successful career in the theatre ? but TV?

Whilst training to become an Operating Department Practitioner (ODP), the 23-year-old from Halewood was thrust into the limelight ? well, sort of ? at the Royal Liverpool Hospital.

The hospital will be the setting for the next series of the BBC?s popular docu-soap Trauma as it charts the goings-on in the various departments over a period of ten weeks.

"It was a pretty strange experience and not something I?ll forget in a hurry," said Helen, who gave up a career in the leisure industry to train as a health professional. "They did a lot of filming in A&E ? including how the hospital handled a road traffic accident ? and it was also a great opportunity to talk about ODP as a profession which not many people are that aware of."

An ODP works alongside medical and nursing colleagues to provide high standards of care during the anaesthetic, surgical and recovery phases of the patient's treatment in hospital.

"I originally thought about becoming a paramedic and being an ODP is very similar ? just based in a hospital rather than out-and-about. For me, the most appealing thing about this kind of work is that I can do nights and no two days are ever the same.

"There are also opportunities to travel to places like New Zealand and Australia which I?m keen to look into."

During the three years training for her Diploma in Higher Education ODP, Helen spent 80% of the time in the theatres, on the wards and with the ambulance crew at Royal Liverpool and 20% in the classroom ? a mix that has proved invaluable in the long run.

"The nature of the job is such that it is really beneficial to learn on the spot. Everyone has their own individual way of doing things and it is only by experiencing life in the theatre that you come to appreciate how you can provide support to surgeons and patients most effectively."