By Revd. Caroline Brown
‘You were a legend’…this statement was made about Janet on her tribute page on the internet, and Janet was indeed a legend within the world of operating department practice because of her influence, her skill, her experience and her compassion for patients, students and colleagues. Her influence was not limited to the hospital scene and found itself within the university setting and, even nationally, within the Health and Care Professions Council. In actual fact, we could say that Janet was a pioneer in the profession, being one of the first female Operating Department Assistants in Leeds to pave the way for the countless others that would follow behind and experience a rewarding career within the operating theatres. She saw her profession become a registered profession in its own right and, for a time, was a dedicated editor of the Journal of Operating Department Practitioners.
As someone else put on the tribute page, she was ‘an ODP and teacher to her core’ and I want to say to all those who worked with Janet, in whatever capacity, that she was very proud of her profession and very proud of you. It was lovely seeing a picture of a young Janet in scrubs on the tribute page and, when you talked to her about her career, it was clear that her heart for her work was deeply rooted in her cardiac and Killingbeck days. Now, I have heard countless stories about her on-calls and, also, about the mischief she often got up too…she took her work very seriously, but she also made sure that she had some fun along the way.
On a more personal note, I first met Janet when I moved to Leeds in 2005 and, since then, she became not only a colleague, but a loyal friend who would often take the mick out of me being a ‘southerner’. She actually lived round the corner from my parents and her house became a place of escape for me when, a few years ago, I had to move back in with them until I moved again this summer. I fondly remember the occasion, in 2011, when I told her I would be leaving the profession to pursue a calling into ordained church ministry and her response was one of support and encouragement; she often had the sensitivity and wisdom to say the right thing at the right time.
Now, I worked with Janet closely when I was part of the Theatre Education Team and her unique personality certainly shone through, particularly when we shared a very small office with the two Hazels and Michelle…and I’m thinking of the office in Clarendon Wing outside the, then, general theatres at the LGI. I often laugh thinking about the times when I would wind her up and she would put a ‘naughty chair’ sign on the back of my chair and wheel me out of the office and leave me under the security camera for a good few minutes; as much as I tried to get back in, she usually barricaded the office door so I couldn’t!
Her sense of time keeping at work was also unpredictable…and, as we have already heard, this trait was clearly a feature of her overall character. Janet liked to be flexible about what she did and when she did it, and I often found trying to get her to plan a time to meet up for coffee, a few days beforehand, was a real challenge. She loved to be spontaneous and, why not, in her much cut-short retirement.
When Janet retired, she said to me that she was given some theatre shoes, but they didn’t fit properly. She gave them to me to be slippers, but I only think it’s right to give them back today as a symbol of that which gave her fulfilment and a great sense of purpose. The profession has certainly lost a true, true legend. (A pair of theatre shoes were placed on the coffin at this point in the funeral service).