(L-R) RBWH OTs Emma Driver, Annie Reeves and Frances Thomsen are all celebrating 15 years’ service to RBWH

Recently, the RBWH Occupational Therapy team celebrated a very special milestone, with three of their senior staff members reaching 15 years of service to RBWH.

With 45 years of service between them, occupational therapists (OTs) Emma Driver, Annie Reeves and Frances Thomsen certainly know a thing or two about helping their patients get back to living their lives.

The OTs said they have grown up together during their respective 15 years of service to the hospital and are proud to continue to deliver high quality care to patients who have been injured, ill or are disabled.

Annie said that since RBWH is a tertiary teaching hospital, the variety of patients ensures she is always learning new things in her role.

“We provide care to a diverse range of patients including those who have been involved in trauma incidents, cancer care patients and burns patients. Every day is different,” Annie said.

“My favourite thing about my profession is how creative you can be.

“Our care is always tailored to the individual patient and we are able to problem solve and come up with solutions to suit them and their unique requirements.”

Emma commented on the unique opportunity provided at RBWH to treat both inpatients and outpatients.

“it’s amazing to be able to follow our patients from when they are inpatients in ICU or Burns, to the point where they are getting back to living their normal lives in the community,” Emma said.

“They are usually a completely different person by the end.”

Frances said that while the variety and challenges of the work have been a key contributor to her 15 years at RBWH, what has kept her here is the team.

“We only have a small team of about 30 OTs, but it’s such a great culture,” Frances said.

“We’re like one big family.”