Behind the scenes, there are many wonderful people who make the running of the clinic go smoothly. Today, we’ll be introducing just one of those people: Mustafa, our Operations and Quality Manager at Harley Street Fertility Clinic.
In a nutshell, Mustafa’s role is focused on looking after the wellbeing of our patients and supporting the team in delivering our services. According to Mustafa, this is all about “helping to develop a smooth pathway for our patients, supporting the team in achieving what they need to achieve, and picking up on any difficulties or problems that may arise.” On top of his patient-facing work, Mustafa also works with the management to help develop the strategic direction of the clinic.
At HSFC, we want our patients to have a smooth fertility journey with us, and a lot of that comes from our amazing admin, nursing, clinical and counselling teams. “They’re the real heroes,” says Mustafa, “I’m only really talking to patients if they have questions or problems, which isn’t very often at all.” For most of our patients, their fertility journey started a long time before they came to our fertility clinic, so Mustafa is very mindful of the emotional, financial and physical challenges that our patients face: “our job is to make our patients’ journey as easy as possible, keeping in mind that IVF doesn’t always have a positive outcome.”
Despite being a trained accountant, Mustafa has worked in fertility for 15 years. “I started to work on interesting projects in fertility, working all over London in NHS and private clinics. One project led to another and I kept saying to myself “after this, I will work as an accountant” but it never happened.” It was these projects that helped him to realise that fertility was his true calling.
“HSFC was a pleasant surprise, not something I had planned to do, but I’m glad I did it,” admits Mustafa. Dr Venkat invited Mustafa to come and overlook the quality side of things at HSFC, so he only came on a short-term contract to help out. That, in turn, led to more opportunities on different projects, until last year, when Mustafa’s role expanded into operations management: “I guess I must’ve done something right in my first year here!”
When asked about his favourite part of the job, Mustafa found it hard to narrow it down. “Overall, I enjoy all aspects of my job. I enjoy working with all of the different teams - it’s such a wonderful clinic to work in, and the staff are incredible - and I even enjoy getting to say “good morning” to everyone. In terms of my day-to-day work, I’m so grateful to know that the changes we’re making and the way that we’re developing the service not only will make our patients’ lives easier but will also help the clinic be more efficient. Then there’s the longer-term vision: it’s been really exciting to talk to Dr Venkat and Suvir about the direction of the clinic over the next 12 months.”
It’s just a wonderful clinic, a nice small clinic which means we are able to offer personalised care and completely tailored and individualised to each patient, it’s not a generic thing when patients are treated as numbers. Wee treating each patient as an individual.
Mustafa spends his weekends resting, reading and recharging. He enjoys playing tennis and going to the gym: “I haven’t gone too much in the last year, so I’m planning a fresh start in the new year.” Mustafa also enjoys travelling.
Mustafa says he really enjoys being part of the HSFC family. “It really is a wonderful clinic. It’s not too big, so we can all look after our patients and offer them tailored care which is amazing. Having worked in bigger clinics, the focus can often be on increasing the number of patients, but that’s not the case here. We are really focused on looking after our patients. I love working with the whole team, they are all doing an exceptional job. The reception team are absolutely wonderful. Talking to the nursing team, there is so much camaraderie, love and attention for our patients.
Mustafa also has great words about our clinicians, admitting there are days when he doesn’t see either Dr Venkat or Dr Verstraete as they put the patients’ needs first. “They are very passionate about their job. The same goes for the embryology team, they are some kind of superheroes. They are in the background working away and no one really sees them; even the patients don’t have a lot of interactions with them. Nevertheless, there is always someone from the embryology team in the clinic. It’s such an inspiring environment to work in.”
In finishing his interview with such high praise for the team, you get a great measure for Mustafa and why we’re so proud to have him as part of the HSFC family.
Mustafa’s colleagues were happy to share their thoughts about Mustafa.
“I worked with Mustafa since the first day he joined HSFC. His hard work, dedication and positive attitude make him a great example for all of us. Mustafa always motivates us to do our best even when it’s been a long day. He makes sure everyone is always up to date on the things we need to know and care about. He is, without a doubt, a big asset for Harley Street Fertility Clinic. We are lucky to have such an experienced colleague among us and we really appreciate the knowledge he choose to share with us. It is an absolutely pleasure to working with him. Our team would not be complete without Mustafa as our Quality and Operations Manager.”
“When I came to HSFC in July [2021], it was another chance to work with Mustafa the way I used to work with some years ago at another hospital, where he was the Quality Manager. The world of a Quality Manager is not easy, and it takes a strong character to do that role, because a lot of the things you deal with are not pleasant. He deals with complaints, as he did at the other hospital, as a Quality Manager. I would say about his character he is always calm, he always expects the best, I am yet to see him lose his temper. He may be cross or upset of certain circumstances, but he never loses his temper. He always tries to find the peace in the storm, regardless of the situation. He doesn’t blame, he is just trying to resolve the situation and make the best he can to make peace with the people . It takes a lot of character, a lot of courage and strength not to judge, not to blame and not to find fault. These are all amazing qualities - I am not sure he is aware of these qualities. He always tries to reason, trying to make the best and trying to improve, whatever the situation is. He is trying to resolve all the complaints, and he doesn’t blame or judge. I think we are lucky at HSFC to have him, and he also shows us how we should be in certain circumstances.”
“First and foremost, Mustafa is a great human, a wonderful colleague. He is the one who helps you no matter what, no “ifs”, no “buts”. Mustafa is the man who knows to encourage, listen and support. He is the kindest, warmest and most honest Quality Manager I have ever met in my entire career.”
“Mustafa is the Operations and Quality Manager, he deals with our compliance for our regulators, and he also looks after our patients who are struggling with their treatment, so he is handling our complaints, and he also keeps the whole clinic running, as he is the Operations Manager. He has quite a full plate. Most importantly, he is one of the most patient people that I know. He’s an excellent listener and he is very good at taking the information, processing it, speaking with people, trying to improve the way that we work to make the clinic a success.
“Mustafa joined our team a couple of years ago, initially on a temporary position, he was happy to carry on so he was with us since then. He is the Operations and Quality Manager, and I am happy to say he is doing a great work. He’s got lot of patience with the staff, to guide them, help them, assist them in their work. Similarly, he also talks to the patients and helps them in their journey. He is also very good with computers. He is a good Quality Manager, he has improved our system. He is also good at doing audits and analysing data. On the whole I would say he is a very good asset to the clinic, and I am happy he is in our team.”
To listen to Mustafa's podcast, please visit this page.