Philip Rowlands - Trust Health and Safety Advisor

“After a stint of about three years working in the pottery industry, I decided to join the British Army for a change of direction and in May 1988 I signed on the dotted line having decided that the Royal Army Medical Corps was for me.

After a few months of training which included basic military training and the Combat Medical Technician Class 3 course, I was posted from the RAMC Training Depot near Aldershot to Catterick Garrison in North Yorkshire and the first of many units I would serve with. I had no idea I would end up serving more than 23 years and see  service worldwide by way of postings, military exercises and operational tours in the UK, Germany, Cyprus, Kenya, Falkland Islands, Persian Gulf, Bosnia and Afghanistan.

Leaving the Army in 2012, I found myself employed as a dual role Offshore Medic/Health and Safety Advisor contract worker in the offshore oil and gas industry before deciding that I needed a better work life balance with less travel. In 2016 I secured a position at UHNM as a Health and Safety Advisor. I believe that the main skills I and other Armed Forces veterans and serving members of the Armed Forces who work at the Trust bring to the table are our multitude of diverse talents gained in a wide variety of roles we all fill throughout our service, our soft skills such as team spirit and most importantly the values that get embedded in us from the moment we start basic training; courage, discipline, respect for others, integrity, loyalty and selfless commitment. Transferrable skills that are fully compatible with the Trust’s values.”

During his time in the forces, phil has been to: 

• Ash Vale Aldershot - Basic Training
• Catterick Garrison – Posting
• Stoke and Redditch for Operation Orderly (Ambulance Strike 1989 – 1990)
• Persian Gulf – Operations
• Cyprus – Exercise x4 times
• Germany – Exercise all over
• Germany - Posting
• Kenya – Exercise x 2 times
• Bosnia – Operations x3 times Yes, I like putting my hands in my pockets….
• Strensall York – Posting x 2 times
• Tidworth – Posting
• Afghanistan – Operations Bagram
• Birmingham Royal Centre For Defence Medicine – Posting
• Maidstone – Posting
• Chilwell – Posting
• Cambridge – Posting