www.vblush.com

You'll find operations director, Thomas, hard at work behind his desk in the company's new office, a stone's throw from its original premises. 

Expanding into the modern office space is a sure sign of the company's success, while it's also proof positive of meeting a need to dedicate a staff member of Thomas's standing to National Health Service-related work. 

That's not just to ensure that relationships with Scotland's health boards, and a plethora of health trusts across England, Wales and Nothern Ireland, are being maintained and developed, but, first and foremost, to ensure that there's a smooth road from prescription to supply for customers. 

"Liasing with the NHS sector is a vital part of what we do behind the scenes," said Thomas. "Customers don't see any of that, but we work away to ensure that the patient journey from surgery to being prescribed our products is as smooth as possible." 

That can mean Thomas being in daily touch with individual health providers, including General Practitioner surgeries, as stoma nurses are the source of prescribing Vanilla Blush garments, while its sometimes necessary to provide full product details to some doctors before the green light is given for the company to supply the garments. 

"We also deal with centralised purchasing bodies, and life can be complext, but through it all, my job is about one thing, and that is making sure that customers who have been prescribed Vanilla Blush garments as part of their treatment, receive first class service from us. I believe that the NHS organisastions also appreciate having a single point of contact. I'm very conscious of being a vital link in a chain that provides our garments to customers at what can be a very stressful time. 

"It's all about smoothing the way." 

(Interview and photo by Hugh Dougherty