Meet the Team - Julia Catherall

Julia has worked for Healthwatch County Durham for 11 years in April and has been the fountain of knowledge for staff who have joined the team! Get to know more about Julia below!

What is your job role and in general what does that entail?

My job title is Engagement and Signposting Lead and I work full time. I work with several external organisations where I will attend meetings and share with the group what, as an organisation, we are working on and feedback any relevant information to the rest of the team. My role is primarily working with the public of County Durham to gather their views on health and care services. We do this in several different ways whether it be engagement events, 1-1 sessions, questionnaires, and online engagement. We then feed this back to commissioners of services with recommendations and suggestions on how they can make changes to services they deliver. We offer a signposting and information service where people of County Durham can give us a call on our freephone number with any issues or concerns regarding services they access. We can make calls on their behalf or signpost them to various services and organisations.

What does a usual work day look like to you?

This is the bit I most enjoy about my role as it varies from day to day. I usually come into the office a couple of days a week depending on my diary. I could be prepping for a meeting or preparing for an event. I need to make sure I have everything I need in my little trolley – plenty of freebies, who doesn’t love a free pen!! The phone can ring at any time, and you never know what type of caller is on the other end of the phone and how long you are going to need to spend with that client

What is the most exciting/rewarding part of your job?

It gives me a great sense of achievement if I have helped and supported a person and given them the right information to help them with an issue they have regardless of how small or how long it has taken me. I enjoy working on a piece of work from the beginning, getting the report written, sharing our findings and recommendations with the relevant organisations.

What is your favourite thing about working for Healthwatch County Durham?

We have a great team who all have the same vision of making a difference to the people of County Durham. When we come together for our monthly team meeting we share ideas over a cuppa and a biscuit. We can be very vocal when we are all in a room together!!

After work/on a weekend, how do you like to relax? What are your hobbies?

As I work full time, I don’t get to see my 3-year-old granddaughter as much as I would like during the week, so on a weekend I like to spend time with her. With another grandchild on the way, my time will be filled. Family is important to me, and I love nothing more than having a wholesome weekend with all my family. I enjoy a trip to the theatre and watching live music with friends over a few drinks. I love to travel and have been fortunate enough to have had some amazing holidays with my partner, we love to plan our next holiday and always have something to look forward to.

What jobs have you done in the past?

I worked in a hotel for 9 years where I did a couple of different roles starting with Christmas party bookings/corporate events and finally, I was responsible for the bookings of the hotel accommodation. I left there to work on a reception at a local family business, it was a little quiet after coming from a busy hotel, so I left after a few months to work as a Tourer Administrator at a caravan place which I really enjoyed. Unfortunately, I was made redundant after 11 months, so I did some temping for a few months which then took me to the Pioneering Care Partnership (PCP) where I worked as an Administrator for a project and then onto Healthwatch County Durham in 2013 where I have worked ever since.

Finally, what/who inspires you?

My late Nanna was and still inspires me. She passed away in July last year at the age of 98. We always thought she would get her telegram from the King, but her health took its toll. Being widowed for about 30 years she lived independently in her house up until the last 6 months of her life. I will always be grateful to say we had 5 family generations and a lovely photo to treasure forever.

Thank you so much to Julia for her great answers  and for sharing with us and thank you for being what we like to call, the 'mother' of our team!