An ex-policeman has swapped a life of major terror alerts and glamorous celebrities for the more sedate world of health care.
Julian Cornes was on the wrong end of a mortar bomb attack by the IRA and met the likes of James Bond star Roger Moore and Margaret Thatcher during his time as part of the security team at Heathrow Airport.
Father-of-two Julian, who lives in Penrhyn Bay, near Llandudno, has now been appointed to a senior role with Spire Healthcare which owns the private Spire Yale Hospital in Wrexham and their Consulting Rooms in Abergele.
In his job as Regional Coach, Julian is responsible for helping to improve customer care from the time a person gets in touch right through to the successful conclusion of their treatment.
It’s a far cry from his time as a sergeant in the Metropolitan Police in his native London. He served in the Met for 12 years, six of them at Heathrow.
Julian recalled: “You had to be on your toes all the time. I was on duty when the IRA mortar bombed Heathrow in the 1980s, because along with need to be ready to respond to an aircraft accident, airline companies were also under continual threat”.
“It was a time of very high threat so we worked with the army and anti-terrorist specialists – there were 72 airline companies and 71 terrorist threats, only Iceland didn’t have a terrorist threat to its national airline.
“There was also a constant stream of celebrities coming through, including the likes of Roger Moore just after he had finished playing James Bond in the 007 films.
“I actually met Prince Charles and Lady Diana and Mrs Thatcher said hello. She was always very nice and would always say thank you.”
“We came to the rescue of tennis superstar Jimmy Connors who’d been picked up by a criminal tout who was posing as a taxi driver. He was adamant that he wanted to get into the taxi until we pointed out how much of a mistake it would have been – and we arrested the tout.”
After deciding he wanted a change, Julian embarked on a new career in the pharmaceutical industry working for some of the biggest names in the business, including Wellcome and Roche.
At the same time he relocated to North Wales which is perfect for his new job with Spire Health Care which involves working with 20 hospitals north of Birmingham all the way up to Edinburgh.
He said: “My role is to do with training and coaching around customer skills. It’s about improving the patient journey from the moment they get in touch, from when they make the first phone call right through to their operation or whatever treatment they need.
“Our patients are our first and last priority so our mission is to make sure they are very well looked after every step of the way.
“Patients who opt for Spire can come in quickly, relatives can come and stay any time they want and there are lots of choices including choosing the surgeon who does the operation.
“At Spire Yale in Wrexham, there is award-winning catering with freshly prepared food and three course meals for those who want.
“We’re focusing on outcomes which we want to be absolutely perfect and our record in terms of infection control is exceptional. We have very low infection rates here, we don’t have C Diff which sadly they are worrying about in other parts of Wales.
“More and more people are choosing the option of private healthcare. I don’t think people realise it’s as affordable as it is.
“It makes very good sense if you have something that’s worrying you to spend half an hour or so with a consultant who’s a specialist in that area to give you the advice on what’s wrong, the prognosis and what the best course of action is. That’s really money well spent.
“Something else that’s helped is the fact that Spire has a fixed price policy for procedures. As well as being accessible, it’s affordable as well.
“Unfortunately, there is an element of having to wait if you use the NHS and it means that you’re not going to be able to speak to somebody the following day.”
“I am really enjoying my new role. Each hospital is different and run independently according to local needs. It’s been great looking at procedures and protocols so we can make outcomes even better.”
Sue Jones, the Hospital Manger of Spire Yale in Wrexham and the Consulting Rooms in Abergele, was delighted a person of Julian’s calibre was helping them improve in such a key area.
She said: “Julian brings with him a vast body of experience which will be extremely valuable as we strive to be even better at what we do.”
