Meet Luke, who is the Trust’s Senior Graphic Designer who has worked for the NHS for just over three years.
As an integral part of the Communications Team, Luke acts as the brand guardian for the Trust and to ensure the organisation is adhering to accessibility standards that are set by central government.
He also handles day to day requests from across the Trust to avoid having to outsource design projects to expensive agencies who don’t always have the best understanding of the work NHS Communications carry out.
Luke’s work can vary from a patient information leaflet to social media graphics and from a poster to 200-odd page documents.
Luke said:
“In terms of skills, there is no more important quality in my current role than being organised which is something that has taken me a long time to fully appreciate, and it is something I constantly work to improve.
Communication is also important, and being brave enough to challenge people’s asks. A lot of the time, colleagues will come to us asking for something very specific but by the time we have finished our initial conversation we are usually able to advise of a much more effective way of delivering what they’re asking.”
Luke gained a degree in graphic design whilst volunteering to work on promotional materials and match day programme for a semi-professional rugby league club and developed an interest in social media and copywriting which furthered his love for this area of work.
Luke’s love for media and communications grew during his early career and his first job out of university was a press officer for a member of parliament, from there he had a brilliant opportunity to work at Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS) where his official job title was ‘communications officer (graphics)’ which allowed him to develop in a communications capacity as well as carrying out graphic design work.
Luke continued:
“I absolutely loved the communications aspect of the role, and used to work on call out of hours responding to fire service incidents and on a number of occasions I found myself stood at the cordon of a huge fire.”
Fast forward to 2024, Luke loves that his role directly and indirectly impacts service users and gives him good satisfaction knowing that patient information and information posters have a direct impact by providing key information in accessible ways. One of the main and pieces of work Luke has led on is the design and development of the Trust’s Zero Tolerance campaign which aims to encourage colleagues to report any and all forms of abuse and discrimination.
Lastly, Luke said:
“The hard work that goes on by admin staff in the NHS really underpins the dedicated and professional care that our clinical colleagues provide 24/7.
You can look across the entire Trust to see that every team plays a part in working to improve the care we provide in Lancashire and South Cumbria, whether that is directly or indirectly.
It’s rewarding to work with a very talented and driven Communications Team who delivers whatever is put in front of us to a very high standard.
It’s fulfilling to look back at things like Shine Magazine and big corporate reports that take weeks, or sometimes months at a time, and know they have been a huge team effort and through the design phase we have been able to deliver a brilliant project.”
