A Day in the Life of Owen Patterson, Porter

For this year’s National Healthcare Estates and Facilities Day, to highlight some of the roles that colleagues in our Vital Services perform each day, we spoke with members of the Facilities Team at our Children’s Hospital to get an insight into their work.

Meet Owen Patterson, Porter.

What is your job title, team name and role within the team?

My name is Owen Patterson and I work as a Porter at our Children’s Hospital. I have been in the role for more than 20 years, working full-time on shifts that rotate around week to week. Shifts that l cover are from 8.00am to 4.00pm and 2.00pm to 10.00pm.

Our Portering team also have a team of night shift colleagues that work from 10.00pm to 8.00am.

How would you describe a typical day/ shift?

No day is ever the same, we have scheduled tasks to complete such as waste removal and providing the service for pharmacy then there are the ad hoc jobs that come through based on the service’s needs. Jobs are allocated to the team through a new system which is called TABS. We use mobile devices that alert us to the users’ requests. We receive the request, deliver and then close out the job.

My day can vary from office removals, delivering cylinders, removal and transportation of waste, answering crash calls, delivering patient provisions, and patient transfers along with the deep cleaning of waste bins and ensuring that our service yard is maintained to an acceptable standard. Working with my team members, we have new members of the team that we all support and ensure that they are fully trained on all aspects of the Portering role.

What do you enjoy most about your work?

I like that my role is not confined to working in one space. I enjoy all the interactions that l have with colleagues within the Trust, meeting with patients and parents and working alongside members of my team.

What achievement are you most proud of?

I have worked here at the Children’s Hospital for 20 years and l am proud to be able to support the needs of the children, the parents and staff. l enjoy my role and I look forward to working more years here at providing the Porter service to the needs of the users.

Not a lot of people know this but……

I have eight children, my oldest is 34 and the youngest is 14 years of age. I also have four grandchildren ranging from in age from one to five. I adore my children and grandchildren and l value the time that we as a family spend together socialising.