Phlebotomy recognition week – meet Kathryn Earlam

Kathryn Earlam spent 11 years dealing with stressed brides-to-be – so she knows how to reassure anxious patients.

The 65 year old is a phlebotomy manager at the Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Hospital in Margate, taking blood from dozens of people each day to help clinicians make a diagnosis or monitor their condition.

Although it may seem a far cry from her previous roles as a chef, wedding dress shop owner, and travel money manager, many of the skills have proved to be transferable.

She said: “I am quite a calm person, and when I was working in bridal I would see brides come in stressing about everything, but their tensions would soon come right down.

“It is the same in the phlebotomy suite; you quickly build a rapport with people and help them relax.

“It is a real privilege to have this role, which is often the first step in someone finding out what’s wrong with them.”

Kathryn trained as a chef after leaving school, but then spent 11 years working in the bridal industry, including opening her own shop in Herne Bay.

She said: “I absolutely loved it. We had a huge dressing area and sometimes we would have all the bridesmaids as well as the mother of the bride and it could be quite full-on.

“I did alterations too, and would dress the bride on the wedding day. Having a calm presence among everything else going on was really important to them.”

But after major surgery in 2011, combined with an increase in cheap gowns from overseas flooding the market, Kathryn closed her shop for the final time. After a brief period working as a chef in the Debenham’s restaurant, she took over the store’s travel money service.

She said: “I got a buzz out of that and we were the number one in the country that first Christmas.

“But then I met my wife and moved back to Thanet with her, and then I helped care for her mother until she passed away.

“After that, I wanted to retrain. I have quite a rare blood group, AB+, and I’m not the easiest person to bleed, so I had always admired the phlebotomists and nurses who were able to do it.”

Kathryn joined the Trust eight years ago and manages a small team at the QEQM as well as working clinically. She can also be found at the new Thanet Heath Hub.

She said: “It is so much more than I imagined, and I get a lot of job satisfaction. The most people I have bled in a day was 90, during Covid when we were checking staff for antibodies.

“We all have different techniques but I remember advice I was given as a teenager before I walked over hot coals – take a deep breath then let it go as you step on.

“Some patients come to us right after being given a cancer diagnosis and those are often the ones who stay with you. But I always reassure them we are all here for them; everyone right across the hospital will do our best to help them get better.”