When receptionists serve with compassion, they play a vital role in delivering excellent care — often long before a scan begins. At SCP Radiology Panorama, sisters Nikita Bailey and Marilu Roberts are two of these valued team members. For many patients, their journey begins in the reception area, where the sisters are part of a team that serves with specialised knowledge, the ability to multitask with accuracy, and genuine compassion.

They never planned to become a workplace duo. Life, however, had its own ideas.

After losing both their parents, the siblings — originally from Hermanus — moved to Cape Town, searching for a fresh start. “SCP was our second chance at life,” Nikita says. “It became our home when we had nowhere else to go.”

Nikita had worked at a medical practice in Hermanus; Marilu spent time in retail. But when they applied to SCP Radiology, it became more than just a job. “SCP became our family,” Marilu says. “The only people we really know are from here.”

Their path into healthcare wasn’t entirely unexpected. Their mother was a nurse, their father an undertaker. Hospitals were a familiar backdrop to their childhood, spent accompanying their mother on shifts, caring for their grandfather who had Parkinson’s disease, and assisting a cousin in a wheelchair. “We were used to looking after people,” Marilu explains. “Caring is second nature to us.”

.

.

Receptionists with compassion

As receptionists with compassion at SCP, Nikita and Marilu deem it vital to embody the values of empathy, attentiveness, and heartfelt service that patients rely on.

Now, respectively three and four years into their roles, they are among the faces most loved by patients who visit the practice. But is their job easy? “Not always,” Nikita admits. “People come to us anxious, scared of results, unsure of what to expect. Our job is to be patient with them, to put ourselves in their shoes.”

Their philosophy is simple: genuine compassion. “We don’t take life for granted,” Marilu says. “We’ve been through loss, we understand pain. That’s why our sympathy is real.”

And the future? Nikita pauses, then smiles. “I’m not where I thought I’d be — but I don’t think I’d want to be anywhere else.”

This article is part of a series of short staff profiles by SCP Radiology to highlight career opportunities in radiology practices. Read more Career Stories in our News section.