Lindy Middleton’s 40-year hospital milestone celebrated in style

If you’ve had your blood drawn at Narrabri Hospital, chances are you have been in the caring hands of Lindy Middleton.

Narrabri’s beloved phlebotomist has serviced the community, by drawing and collecting blood in the pathology department for 40 years as of April 23.

“A bit of history for you, I was born in the old maternity ward at the old hospital, which was then replaced by the lab, and after I turned 18, I started working there on April 23, 1983,” said Ms Middleton.

“So, I was born where I started work and I’m still here.

“I guess you could say that I was destined to never leave.”

The pathology department at Narrabri Hospital marked the occasion with a special morning tea at the hospital and dinner at the Tourist Hotel, where Ms Middleton was presented with a cake worthy of the celebration, and an engraved silver necklace as a memento of the milestone.

Ms Middleton first started at Narrabri Hospital in an administrative role, but fate quickly presented her with other plans.

“After three weeks they put a needle in my hand, and I never looked back, here I am 40 years later,” said Ms Middleton.

In her time at the hospital, she has seen it all but finds the technological advancements through the times to be most remarkable.

“There have been a lot of changes in my time,” said Ms Middleton.

“Everything is automated now, so you can imagine that when I started, I was typing reports on a typewriter, then manually filing everything, which took forever.

“Blood collecting itself is still the same process, but it is amazing to see how far we’ve come as things have become computerised.”

Ms Middleton’s needle count could be as high as her blood-drawing story count, which she says are far too many to remember, though she came up with a few.

“I’ve had many people faint or have a fit whilst having blood taken.

“A few times we’ve had to hit the emergency buzzer and the ED nurses have come running.

“Kids are always the challenge, I have been kicked and screamed at and a few expletives thrown at me, but I just smile through it.

“The worst patients are big burly men with tattoos who are scared of needles. I just shake my head at them.

“Then there was one time when the blood bank fridge broke down, so I had to transfer blood from that fridge to another.

“Whilst doing this I dropped a bag of blood. You can imagine the scene. It was like I had murdered someone. Funny now but it wasn’t at the
time.”

While her duties include data entry and the role of technical assistant, her face is the one that the community looks for when they approach the pathology doors for their dreaded blood tests.

“Through the challenging times over the years, I have met a lot of people, I guess I’m the face of the community as their blood collector,” said Ms Middleton.

“I have people ringing me and saying they want to see me for a blood test, or that they didn’t come in because they couldn’t see my car out front.

“We have a lot of real characters that come in, and though it’s serious business, we have a lot of laughs, especially with the radiology department which is next to us.

“I’ve always had the most wonderful group of colleagues to work with and I’ve seen many staff come and go over the years and have fond memories with most of them.”

Her knack for getting people in the chair and through an anxiety-inducing process might have something to do with her outlook on life, and her attitude to persevere, always with a laugh.

“I’m fairly easy-going, and up for a bit of a laugh.

“I take things as they come and try not to get too stressed out,” said Ms Middleton.

“I always try and remember that even though regardless of how things are, they can always be fixed.”