Hamza joined SWLP in 2024 in the role of Central Reception Pathology Manager, based at St George’s Hospital.
What does an average day look like for you?
No two days are exactly the same as Central Pathology Reception Manager, but Hamza’s mornings always start with a check-in with his team supervisors. They go over the previous day’s performance, reviewing data and looking at any backlog to help plan the day effectively. Communication is key—whether it’s through the team’s WhatsApp group or shared team email—so tasks can be delegated and followed up if needed.
Throughout the day, Hamza is assessing workflow, identifying bottlenecks, and supporting the team in resolving any issues.He aims to empower his supervisors to take ownership of the frontline operations, coaching them on how to manage conflict, performance issues, and team morale. It’s important to him that they grow into confident leaders.
His role also involves larger strategic pieces. Since joining SWLP in December 2024, Hamza has focused on improving the physical environment of the reception area by installing notice boards and shelves to increase workspace and cleanliness. He’s been heavily involved in the rollout of our new courier contract from 1April, acting as the point of contact during the transition. He also oversees the consumables ordering process for GPs and the management of our warehouse stock. More recently, he’s been leading the implementation of ProfilerLive for Central Pathology Reception.
What is your favourite thing about the job?
What gives Hamza the greatest satisfaction is empowering his team to do their best work. He’s deeply invested in supporting them—not just with tools and training, but with trust, encouragement, and the freedom to lead. He sees himself as a coach more than a manager, always guiding his supervisors to step into leadership and build confidence in their decisions. He genuinely believes that leadership isn’t about control—it’s about creating the right environment for others to thrive.
Hamza loves checking in with his team every day, reviewing data, planning around staffing, and making sure everyone knows they’re supported. Watching a team that once may have felt unsure of themselves grow into a cohesive, confident group is one of the most rewarding parts of what Hamza does.
Beyond that, he gets huge satisfaction from solving operational puzzles—whether that’s streamlining workflows, reducing clutter to improve efficiency, or being involved in major change programmes like the new courier contract, GP consumables, or rolling out our digital training platform. These aren’t just tick-box projects—they’re systems that improve how our people work and how our patients are cared for.
Hamza is driven by impact. Whether it’s helping someone grow in their career, or seeing how a well-run reception enables fast, life-saving diagnostics—he feels proud knowing he’s playing a part in something bigger. And in this role, no two days are ever the same—and that’s exactly how Hamza likes it.
Is there a moment you will always remember?
A moment Hamza will always remember is the implementation of the new Digital Tracking System for blood samples—from the point of collection to receipt in Central Pathology Reception. This change is more than just a technological upgrade—it’s a game changer for how we manage and understand the journey of a diagnostic sample.
Historically, our process involved a lot of duplication, transcription errors, and a lack of visibility on where a sample was coming from or when it would arrive. The new system strips away this inefficiency and gives us real-time data. It means we can see exactly how many samples are in transit, what tests are ordered, and when they’ll hit the lab. This gives us the ability to match staffing levels to demand, plan breaks smartly, and adjust shift start and finish times based on actual workload rather than assumptions.
What excites Hamza the most is the transformative effect it has had on his team. Instead of putting all their energy into just receipting samples, they’ll be trained to troubleshoot digital errors, interpret data, and manage a live sample-tracking interface. These are transferable digital healthcare skills they might never have encountered otherwise—skills that open up new career paths into data, quality, and operational leadership.
For Hamza, it’s incredibly satisfying to give people access to tools that allow them to not only do their job more efficiently, but feel empowered, trusted, and inspired. And ultimately, this system will improve patient outcomes by reducing delays and errors, which is at the heart of everything we do.
It’s a proud moment because it marks a shift—from firefighting inefficiencies to strategic, patient-focused, digital-first pathology. And to lead that change with his team is something Hamza will never forget.
How did you get into pathology?
Hamza has been with the NHS just over five years. He joined towards the end of 2020, when Covid was well and truly embedded. After his time in South Africa and running a business in Swansea, he came back to London in 2018. His mind was still in hospitality, but then he started at Addenbrooke’s as an MLA – a medical lab assistant – while figuring out his next steps.
He didn’t initially see a long-term path in pathology. At Cambridge, he’d studied Natural Sciences but ended up with a BA – they don’t award BScs there, oddly enough. Working as an MLA, he became fascinated by the logistics – those German company trucks delivering supplies made him curious about the whole supply chain. That curiosity eventually led him to NWLP then SWLP, where he could combine his operations experience with healthcare.
What kept Hamza in the NHS was realising how much systems matter. In his business, hs saw how workflow design affects everything. Here, we’re dealing with patient samples instead of business products, but the principles are the same – efficiency, visibility and team morale. That’s why projects like the move to e-courier speak to him.