“What I love most about working in Causeway Hospital is the sense of community” Dr Fergal Dunn

What made you choose Causeway Hospital as a place to work?

I am from Portstewart originally. The concept of working in your own community and providing a service for your own community is really important to me. I wanted to work in my own community.

What do you love most about working at Causeway Hospital?

What I love most about working in Causeway Hospital is the sense of community. I know all my colleagues by name. It’s a very collegiate culture, different specialties and different teams come together to provide the best possible care for our patients.

How would you describe the culture here at Causeway Hospital?

We work together for the benefit of our patients. The culture is that of a team collaborating to provide the best care not just of our patients but for each other.

What are the benefits of the Causeway location?

This is the best place in the world to live. The quality of life is amazing. The beaches, scenery and walks are unrivalled. There are loads of fabulous restaurants and shops. If you’re into surfing or being in the water, or boating, or fishing, or golf, then this is the place for you.

What is the single best thing about working in Causeway?

The work life balance.

What do you like to do outside of work?

I run and I enjoy walks on the beach with the dogs. I am a Leicester City fan. I am a keen but ‘very amateur’ golfer. During the Open Championship, I was the medic for the pre-tournament planning committee and I worked with the on course medical team.

In your daily work, how are you able to make a difference to patients?

The team is flexible and allows us to make quick changes in order to improve the patient experience and outcome without having to go through a lot of processes. The teams in Causeway are flexible enough and small enough to change things quickly to make a difference. We have a management structure that supports us in doing this. One of the strengths in Causeway Hospital is that our services are clinically led but they’re managerially supported and we have a very good relationship between clinicians and management.

How have you been able to shape services at Causeway Hospital?

We continue to develop the service to match the needs of the local population and we are facilitated in how we can do this. For instance we have set up a frailty unit to manage these particular presentations to the hospital.

What facilities and training opportunities are there at Causeway Hospital?

Causeway is a postgraduate and undergraduate training site with a solid teaching programme. All the consultants are dedicated to providing medical education and training and there are lots of opportunities to do so.

11th April 2022