RUH staff ready for the Olympics

16th July 2012, 12:20

Six staff from the Royal United Hospital in Bath have been given a once in a lifetime opportunity to be involved in the Olympic Games in July.

Orthopaedic Physiotherapy Specialist Genevieve Simpson, Dr Liz Brown, Sister Caroline Jolley, Sister Lors Allford, Emergency department Assistant Jeff Sawyer and Staff Nurse Laura George, will all be volunteering at the 2012 London games.

The staff, who are giving up their own time to take part, are all very excited to have been chosen for such an enormous event.

Genevieve Simpson, who is from Bradford-on-Avon, was interviewed by the England hockey physiotherapist in London. She was one of 300 physiotherapists recruited out of the 500 who were interviewed, and she will be looking after some of the world's top athletes in the Olympic village.

Gen says: ''I love my job and I love sport, so to be able to combine the two is fantastic. I will be mainly treating athletes who don't have their own medical teams.

''I've already been involved in what was effectively a dress-rehearsal for the Olympics, which was amazing. I was on hand at the London Prepares events involving the world championships for the synchronised swimming, trampolining and gymastics. The aquatic centre was amazing and the gymnastics was terrifying; in the warm-up area they practice their most difficult moves, they fall a lot, I was frightened to death!''

Gen, who has experience of caring for elite athletes, having previously worked with Bristol Rugby team, will be sharing each shift with 25 other physiotherapists and 15 massage therapists, based in a polyclinic. Facilities include two MRI scanners, a CT scanner, dentists, podiatrists, musculoskeletal radiologists, anti-gravity treadmills, hydrotherapy pool and a pharmacy.

As well as looking forward to an amazing experience, Gen says that volunteering has given her an opportunity to broaden her skills: ''I've been updating myself and buying books and I've just completed a sport trauma course, so I'm fired up and ready to go.''