Wellington Place is more than just bricks and mortar, it’s a thriving community powered by people. This series of interviews aims to highlight some of the people of Wellington Place, share their inspirational stories and find out why Wellington Place is much more than just a place to work…
Interview with Daniel Gleghorn, Business Analyst at NHS Digital
Daniel is the Chair of the LGBTQ+ and Allies Network at NHS Digital, committed to providing colleagues with equal opportunities all year round.
Why is Pride so important to you?
“Visibility!
“I was born in Australia, but I grew up in a small village in Spain from the age of 6. Growing up I had no gay role models, and no visible LGBTQ+ friends, family or neighbours.
“I knew I was different, but I was too scared to tell those closest to me. Needless to say, there were no Pride marches in my little village. If there had been, it could have triggered a conversation. It could have helped me to see that although there were no LGBTQ+ people around me, there were allies.
“Pride for me isn’t just about celebrating LGBTQ+ people or celebrating the freedom to be our true selves every day without fear, I think it’s actually a day for everyone, LGBTQ+ or not! It’s so important to be a visible ally and make those living in fear know that they are not alone.”
Tell us a little bit about what you do…
“I am a Business Analyst working within Enterprise Architecture at NHS Digital.
“My day-to-day tasks change very frequently, which is one of the things I love most about my job. At a very high level, my work involves analysing how an area of the business (or the wider health and care system) works and coming up with ways to improve it by whichever means possible – using technology, changes to policy, resource changes, or business process changes.
“In addition to my role as a Business Analyst, I am also Chair of the LGBTQ+ and Allies Network at NHS Digital. I became Chair back in September 2020 and have been involved in all sorts of amazing activities since. From arranging talks with a variety of speakers, including LGBT historians and other prominent figures like Jamie Windust, to helping shape our patient-facing services by supporting our programmes in the recruitment of LGBT people for User Research activities, which we have done for our Cancer Screening Programmes and the NHS.uk website.
“The network has been involved in arranging awareness and educational sessions for everyone in the organisation, and we have also started to highlight areas of improvement in some of our patient-facing services.”
What is your greatest achievement to date?
“Where to start…there is so much going on at the moment that it’s hard to keep track of our achievements, whether that be network related or in our day jobs!
“I am extremely proud of the great attendance achieved at the LGBTQ+ and Allies Network events, especially for Trans Day of Remembrance, World AIDS Day, LGBT History Month, Zero Discrimination Day and International Day against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia. I’m even more proud of the feedback we got from the events and how much people were engaging with the conversations – it was truly heartwarming!
“However, I would have to say that I am proudest of some of the work we are doing alongside these events with the patient-facing programmes. A few months ago, we were approached by our team of ID checkers who work on NHS Login, the authentication system that grants access to services like the NHS App. They receive account creation requests and verify the identity of the requestors by ensuring the information submitted matches the information held by the NHS.
“The team asked if it would be possible for our network to facilitate some Trans Awareness Training for their 60 ID checkers. The request actually came from the ID checkers themselves! As a team, they wanted to ensure they are doing everything possible to increase their own awareness, which was so lovely to hear!
“Our network developed training material which we delivered to the team – and we got such great feedback! But not only that…on the back of the training session, we also engaged with the technical delivery team to help them highlight areas of improvement in their system for LGBTQ+ people.”
Tell us something exciting that most people don’t know about you?
“Now whether you’d class this as exciting or not, I’m not sure – but I have lived in four different countries (Australia, Spain, UK and France) and speak five languages so far!”
What is your favourite thing about working at Wellington Place and why?
“NHS Digital is relatively new to Wellington Place, having moved there only a couple of months ago, but we’ve already experienced the amazing community spirit! I have seen some of the events and clubs shared through social media and internally and they look amazing – I can’t wait to take part in them!”
What three words sum up Wellington Place to you?
Community-driven – The complex has such a community feel to it, we can’t wait to get involved!
Welcoming – Since moving to Wellington Place, we’ve felt extremely welcome. It’s such a lovely place to be.
Exciting – It’s an extremely exciting place to work, especially looking at previous events and ones in the pipeline.
Thanks to Daniel for taking part in the interview.
If you would like to tell your story, or wish to nominate someone to take part in the People of Wellington Place series please email info@wellingtonplace.co.uk
