International Women's Day: Sue David

My time at St George's

I have worked at St George’s for a very long time (more than 20 years!) and in that time have climbed up the professional ladder as a Librarian and have been fully supported by this organisation to develop professionally whilst juggling a busy home life.

I have been given myriad opportunities to work with colleagues across the organisation and more widely, to develop networks and constructive working relationships and also to have some fun.

I have also had the privilege of supporting colleagues as they develop their careers and face their own challenges and difficulties.

Working with inspirational women

I have been lucky enough to work with a range of extraordinary women with extraordinary lives. Those who have truly inspired me are the ordinary women with ordinary lives lived in an extraordinary way.

It is the small acts of kindness I see around me every day; the compassion with which my team support students in the Library; the care with which they treat their colleagues; going the extra mile to make sure a problem is solved or a kind word spoken.

It is the extraordinary challenges my colleagues have faced in their daily lives (especially during the Covid-19 pandemic); caring for elderly relatives who live a long way away, juggling childcare and home life; learning to home school; caring for the sick or struggling with their own health.

My work during the pandemic

The Covid-19 pandemic highlighted the skills, talents and compassion of many many people across our university and St George's Hospital, with whom we share site.

Last year, I volunteered to manage our Asymptomatic Test Centre. This opened my eyes to a whole new array of inspirational people in our community, including:

• the Clinical Pharmacology Team who re-organised their programme at very short notice to provide the workforce to run the centre
• our Head of Facilities who was always one step ahead with the practical set up
• our amazing Clinical Lead whose skills and experience were off the scale
• the team “back at base” dissecting the many (many!) documents and guidelines and attending webinars to ensure that our processes were safe and compliant with the requirements
• the many students and colleagues who helped us run the centre with sensitivity and compassion, long after the initial call to arms and until students were able to do their own testing at home.

St George’s really has felt like a family for me and I owe a debt of gratitude for the opportunities and support I have had at every turn.

Find out more about International Women's Day and read more stories from the St George's community.