In The Spotlight - PC Martin Baggett
People are at the centre of everything we do. Those who work at Cardiff and Vale University Health Board make a difference to people’s lives every single day.
Each month, the ‘In The Spotlight’ campaign will shine a light on the different people who make up Cardiff and Vale University Health Board, from those who support behind the scenes, to those who have passions that led them to work in their role.
As an organisation with over 17,000 colleagues, the campaign will highlight the variety of roles, teams and individuals across the health board. Working in the NHS can be life-changing, both for colleagues and for the patients they help.
PC Martin Baggett is currently Wales’ only dedicated Hospital Liaison Officer. Originally a Neighbourhood Beat Manager dedicated to the University Hospital of Wales, his role was expanded around a year ago to cover all hospital sites across the Health Board.
Day-to-day, the experienced police officer offers crime prevention advice, problem solves, and works closely with teams such as Security to keep frontline staff as safe as possible from violence and aggression.
“I’m the boots on the ground for any day-today business happening within our hospital sites. Previously, if there was a call to any of the hospitals we’d get response officers coming from the local station to deal with it.
“However, it often doesn’t need that demand. It just needs some advice or a one-to-one conversation - and that’s where I can come in, sometimes within minutes of the call being made.”
PC Baggett said among his biggest challenges is dealing with issues in the University Hospital of Wales’ emergency unit which can now occur any night of the week.
“The biggest thing for me is the welfare of staff on the frontline who are sometimes suffering the wrath of that when it comes in. As a by-product of that, we work alongside the Health Board’s case management team to support any member of staff through any incident of violence, aggression or if they’re a victim of a crime.”
Despite the seriousness of the job, PC Baggett said he “laughs every day” because of the people he gets to interact with.
“The average footfall in UHW is around 19,500 people a day. That’s on a par with the inhabitants of the town of Aberystwyth, so that’ll give you an idea of how busy it gets. We get to see all different walks of life, from the staff, to the visitors, to the young patients on the wards at the children’s hospital. We also do plenty of things with Ronald McDonald House. It’s so varied.”
In June, PC Baggett launched a new initiative called Walkie Talkie which invites staff and community members to go on a mass walk around Heath Park every Wednesday lunchtime. The aim is for people to open up about their mental health in a safe space.
“We want to get people out of their working environment for a bit of downtime in the large open green space of Heath Park. Whether it’s a nurse in the emergency unit, an office worker or perhaps just someone that doesn’t get the chance to get out on their break that often - we’d love you to get involved.
“It does what it says on the tin: we will walk and talk. If someone wants to open up about something in their home life, we can do that. If someone wants to just vent about their day, we can do that too. Hopefully people can offload during the walk and feel much better by the end of it.”
PC Baggett also plays football for the South Wales Police Veterans side and has just returned from a European tournament in Salou, near Barcelona, where they came third.
To find out more about PC Baggett’s Walkie Talkie weekly walking group, designed to get people talking about their mental health, visit: Walkie Talkie: the new weekly walking group designed to get people talking about their mental health - Cardiff and Vale University Health Board (nhs.wales).
Hear more about how we are putting people first in the Shaping Our Future Wellbeing strategy by visiting the webpage here: Home - Shaping our Future Wellbeing.
To view current vacancies with Cardiff and Vale University Health Board visit the Jobs page of our website here: Jobs - Cardiff and Vale University Health Board (nhs.wales)