Last week (February 24), hospital porters were celebrated at a live awards ceremony in central London. The MyPorter Awards saw six awards presented, with winners selected from a shortlist of entries from across the country whittled down by guest judges Emma Brookes, Head of Soft FM Strategy and Operation and Philip Shelley, Senior Operational & Policy Manager Soft FM at NHS England and NHS Improvement (NHSE/I) from the 100 nominations received.
The broad range of entries showed just why the NHS porters deserve to be honoured and praised, alongside their clinical colleagues.
The winners
Porter of the Year - Matthew Wood, Tunbridge Wells Hospital
Portering Team of the Year - East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust
Outstanding Contribution to Patient Experience - Darren Davies, University Hospital Coventry & Warwickshire
Leadership of the Year - Mark Turner, CHoICE - Sunderland
Newcomer of the Year - Kevin Smith, Addenbrookes
The Dennis Southern Award – for Endeavour – Keith Bellfield, Sunderland
Winners and shortlisted stories
Some inspirational stories of commitment and compassion were shared through these awards, which showcase the humble and loveable nature that porters show to patients at a time that can be very worrying for them.
Matthew Wood is a kind and courageous 21-year old who, despite losing both his grandparents within the last 12 months, continued to study full-time at university to complete his degree, graduating with a First, while coming home at weekends to work at his local hospital as a porter to help his mother with her rent. Throughout the pandemic he worked for the hospital even when Covid cases were at their peak and his grandparents passed away (within the same hospital), showing maturity beyond his years.
Keith Bellfield has worked as a Porter since 1987 and is known by his colleagues as “a walking encyclopedia of Portering.” Sadly, in recent years’ Keith’s wife passed away and he needed to take on extra caring responsibilities for their son. Unable to remain a full-time porter, Keith asked for alternative work, which saw him become a Waste Porter.
The Portering team at East and North Hertfordshire recently helped their Mortuary & Bereavement Team with a logistical nightmare when the mortuary needed essential cleaning and repairs. This resulted in the porters moving over 300 bodies, many working unsociable hours to ensure this work was completed swiftly, but with care and dignity.
Darren Davies came across an extremely distressed and aggressive patient who needed an emergency CT Scan – the patient even attempted to harm the nurses dealing with him. Darren realised how important the scan was for the patient, approached him, talked him down, took him for a walk around the hospital to calm him down further and was able to get him to agree to attend his CT scan. Darren showed true compassion to ensure the patient received the care he urgently needed despite the potential danger to himself.
John Roe works with profound physical disabilities delivering vital (often life-changing) equipment to children. He also has the job of collecting equipment from the families of deceased children and always ensures he takes time to spend with the parents and siblings of these children, regardless of how busy he is. He is a hardworking member of the portering team who delivers meals to poorly children in the respite centre, always greeting everyone with a smile.
The Radiology Porter Team at South Tees was nominated after losing their colleague Mark Lowe to Covid. Not only did they band together to support each other at such a difficult time, they also took it upon themselves to care for Mark’s wife and son.
Ian Butler at Milton Keynes Endoscopy Unit is known for serenading patients.
Nigel Close has been a porter since 1987 and still to this day stays on when staffing levels are low and thinks nothing of taking on an urgent task, even if his shift is due to finish.
The finalists attended a live conference during the day at which they heard from guest speakers on topics including mental health and wellbeing, team work and portering peers who talked best practice.
Commenting at the event, Simon Corben, Director and Head of Profession at NHS Estates said: “These kind of events are really important – it’s important that we recognise the Estates and Facilities profession and celebrating the great work porters do is a part of that. Porters play an intrinsic part in the whole flow of the hospital – without porters we simply cannot operate.”
