Here we speak to Becky Hill, a Business Development Manager at Veolia Water Technologies (VWT), about her career, some of the challenges facing the industry as well as some potential solutions.
Could you tell us a bit about your role at VWT UK?
Although my official title is Business Development Manager, I don’t particularly like to refer to myself in that way as sometimes people assume I’m simply concerned about sales and targets. The reality is that I see my role as supporting and developing the whole water pathway of services and solutions for the healthcare sector, and sharing my knowledge and experience to help people discover the best solution for their specific context and environment.
Can you explain a bit about your background?
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I started out as a microbiology research scientist in 1986 and although I enjoyed the scientific world , I wanted to learn about business. This led me into the commercial world of water purification where I joined ELGA in 1990. There I was able to work across different sectors, providing water quality solutions to a vast range of applications. In particular, I thoroughly enjoyed working within healthcare, and became heavily involved in reusable medical device decontamination.
In 2010, after a couple of years working in the renal dialysis field, I set up my own company, which aimed at providing a holistic approach to quality improvement initiatives across the whole healthcare landscape from acute to community services. This gave me the opportunity to develop adult education and training skills, delve into psychology and behaviour science, to create learning solutions integrating technical subject matter with personal leadership development, underpinned with measurement of the impact of the training intervention on quality improvement initiatives. It also allowed me to undertake some public speaking where I could share some of my broad knowledge and experience across the multiple disciplines we see in healthcare. Recently, I have come full circle rejoining VWT as one of their Healthcare market specialists, covering the South of England and Wales.
What are you looking to achieve over the next 12 months at VWT UK?
I am really passionate about helping our customers on their journey towards net zero carbon. As part of this drive, augmented intelligence using digital technologies have become really important. The beauty of digital is that it captures data 24/7 and can then be used to improve efficiencies in resources, as well as focus where effort needs to go in the day to day operations. I am looking forward to increasing the awareness of digital capabilities and helping customers to implement what works for them.
What do you think is the biggest challenge faced by the healthcare sector?
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I think the biggest challenge is probably the staff shortage. There simply isn’t enough staff to manage the backlog of treatment that has occurred as a result of the pandemic and where many people have left or retired. Unfortunately, these vacancies will take time to be filled.
There is no quick fix – but I do think digital solutions such as Hubgrade can help form part of an overall solution. With smart monitoring like the Hubgrade system, it allows rapid identification of problems in a water system to be identified and acted upon immediately, reducing downtime and associated costs. This reduces the pressure on staff enabling them to redirect their energy where it is required.
What other key technologies or services does VWT UK offer to the healthcare sector?
VWT offers a comprehensive portfolio of all the technologies that are available for every stage of the water pathway. Different applications require different levels of purification or treatment. For example, the water quality used in renal dialysis, which comes into contact with the patient, has to be very different from the water quality used in the energy centres where the water supplies boilers that provide heat across the site.
Overall, VWT’s unique offering simplifies life for hospitals and other healthcare professionals, making it easier to achieve water quality assurance through a single source – Our purpose is to provide innovative solutions that positively impact the environmental sustainability agenda within healthcare, using digital technology to drive improvements in efficiencies and communications.
To ensure that these technologies run as smoothly as possible, we have a dedicated team of healthcare and scientific service engineers that are able to provide specialist guidance, and get to site promptly when required. They are supported by our internal customer support team who are also available to answer any queries or direct our clients to the right places that will answer their questions.
Lastly, tell us a fun fact about yourself
Although I previously had no interest in cycling, I did a four day cycle ride from London to Paris in aid of the MS Society. It was very challenging, but I enjoyed it so much that I have since done other long distance rides, such as London to Amsterdam!
For more information on VWT UK’s healthcare offering, please visit here
