Day in the life – Kelly Lockwood
We caught up with one of our OCS specialists, Kelly Lockwood, to find out more about her work at CliniSys and what she most enjoys about her role.
Kelly is the Domain Lead for ICE, our order communications software – but she’s also very familiar with our LIMS – WinPath Enterprise – having started her CliniSys career in the pathology side of our business.
What attracted you to CliniSys?
Once I became state registered, I became a bit of a nomad and tried my hand at many hospitals and realised I wanted more. CliniSys was installing WinPath at the lab I was in and I volunteered to become the lab’s system administrator, as I was happy to play around with the system. I was impressed with how the CliniSys team worked and loved the system and with career progression in the lab being limited; I was tempted when I saw the product specialist role at CliniSys come up.
How has your career developed or changed since you joined?
I’ve been with CliniSys for 13 years which is my longest stay with any company and I’ve had a number of roles. However, I like meeting and working with people so the Delivery team is a natural home.
With my Haematology background, I started as a Blood Sciences Product Specialist. I then grew into the Domain Lead role for Blood Sciences before taking the challenging job of Solutions Manager for WinPath Enterprise.
I’ve been a user / installer of WinPath for 20 years but I’m not shy of a challenge so recently made the move to ICE Domain Lead. This was a bit of a leap of faith as this is a new product for me but I’ve had lots of support. I’m now working with a new and brilliant team which I’m proud to have had a hand in forming.
Are there any experiences that stand out during your time at CliniSys?
There are loads of rewarding times at CliniSys. Every customer training session, every workshop and the variety of deployments keeps my job interesting.
We’re in exciting times and although the pandemic has caused many challenges, it has led to many new innovations and new workflows. It’s great to have the opportunity to input into new developments and we’ve seen many new solutions in ICE developed and installed to support COVID-19 testing.
What do you enjoy most about your current role?
Well, it’s certainly different from the NHS, but still customer/patient focused. The commercial side of things and the shift to productivity is the fundamental change of focus.
I’m lucky that I have a strong WinPath background and was able to cut my teeth on a project early on. But I can’t overstate how important having a great backup team to support me is. I’m never alone and can reach out and interact with the team every day. It’s great that everyone has a say and it’s not just a line when I say that there are no stupid questions. There are no boundaries and, like me, everyone in CliniSys has the opportunity to change direction. If you’re the best person for the job, that’s where you go; there are no closed doors.
Any advice to anyone interested in making the move?
It’s a brave step, but go for it. The possibilities are huge with room to explore who you want to be.