We meet Adrienne Shaw, Technical Manager of the Northern Ireland Public Health Laboratory (NIPHL)
After graduating in Microbiology from the University of Bristol in 1982, Adrienne Shaw took up a role as Medical Laboratory Scientific Officer in the Bacteriology Department of the Belfast City Hospital (now part of the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust). She practised clinical diagnostic microbiology until 2005, specialising in cystic fibrosis bacteriology for seven years. Along the way she achieved Fellowship of the Institute of Biomedical Science (1987) and has been registered as a Chartered Scientist since 2006. Adrienne has held her current post as Technical Manager of the Northern Ireland Public Health Laboratory (NIPHL) since 2005.
Speaking of her role she says, “We are an excellent team delivering a comprehensive food, water and environmental microbiology service for the Department of Health. We are also an Official Control Laboratory for the Food Standards Agency, local authorities, departments within NHS Trusts in Northern Ireland and other clients, as appropriate.
“We are accredited to ISO 17025:2017 under the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS). Therefore, much of my work is ensuring staff are trained and competent; and that the laboratory adheres to the technical and quality requirements of this standard.”
Adrienne is responsible for fourteen staff comprising biomedical scientists, medical technical officers, senior assistant technical officers and assistant technical officers. Much of her time is spent managing staff and guaranteeing smooth and continuous service delivery, but there are other aspects to the role. “I also have to ensure that methods are fit for purpose, up-to-date with respect to legislative requirements, and evaluate the need for introducing new methods into the laboratory and their subsequent accreditation,” she explains.
As Deputy Quality Manager, she participates in proficiency testing user group meetings and is a member of the Public Health England Food Environmental Proficiency Testing (FEPTU) Steering Group. This helps to enhances her commitment to ensuring the Public Health Laboratory is appropriately challenged and that FEPTU has appropriate scope and challenge for its clients.
Adrienne’s role is a busy one and not without its challenges – and rewards. “Some of the most interesting and challenging aspects of the job focus on outbreaks and food premises with environmental microbiological hygiene issues working alongside Environmental Health Officers (EHOs),” she says, adding, “It is most satisfying when through laboratory testing we are able to identify the strains of organism and find a solution to the problem.
“During the pandemic there appears to be an increase in the presence of Listeria monocytogenes and this genus would be the most frequently encountered organism in our laboratory.”
Adrienne and her team work hard to support EHOs, ensuring food businesses are producing microbiological safe and hygienic products and protecting the public. It is a busy job, with staff processing and examining approximately 24,500 samples and reporting on 85,000 tests per year (pre-COVID-19). “During 2020, we had a reduction of about half in samples submitted from our eleven councils, from around 9,500 to 4,500; but saw an increase in the number of hospital waters tested for Pseudomonas aeruginosa due to opening of wards for COVID-19 patient care. The Food Standards Agency (Northern Ireland) ensured official control shellfish sampling, where the laboratory tests E.coli in live bi-valve molluscs, was maintained throughout.”
This easing in sample numbers during the pandemic gave Adrienne and her colleagues the chance to implement new measures required by their Trust’s COVID-19 policies in regard to protecting staff and clients.
As with most workplaces, the wearing of face masks is now the new normal, social distancing has become habit as has the use of sanitiser and screens, though the labs would have always seen a high level of hygiene and safety.
“We have always had to monitor our laboratories environments and good hygiene is practised by all,” Adrienne notes. “So I don’t know if it is by intervention or sheer good luck, we have been spared from SARS-CoV-2 invading or compromising our workplace, for which we are very relieved. No complacency is the motto!”
This year sees the NIPHL workload projected to return to food sample numbers and tests to be slightly lower than pre-pandemic numbers; but a large increase in hospital water testing.
Adrienne will also be working on further extending the lab’s scope of accreditation and she’s looking forward to the challenge.
Though her career path has steered her away from her original plan of biomedical scientist, Adrienne has embraced her role as a manager. ”I consider it one of my greatest achievements, with support from senior management, to re-work the job specifications within the Public Health Laboratory, and introduce new roles.
“This means that technical staff now have a career path which will take them from Assistant Technical Officer (Laboratory Assistant duties) through to Medical Technical Officer.”
“Microbiology has been the love of my life since the age of 14,” she continues, “It has never let me down and even as a manager dealing with copious amounts of administration, there are still those opportunities to practice my skills and knowledge and know that I can make a difference in the world of public health.”
About Adrienne
What do you do in your spare time?
I live in rural County Down and have plenty of garden and stone walls to build and repair when I get time away from work.
Knowing the microbiological content of food has not put me off cooking and baking, which I have found has kept me sane during the pandemic.
I’m also an avid motorcyclist, spending holidays touring Europe and UK, following MotoGP, World and British superbikes.
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