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Job overview

Hospital porters provide a varied and supportive role to clinical and non-clinical teams. This includes the movement of patients on beds, trolleys and wheelchairs. It also involves the movement of equipment, medication, medical gases, post, patient notes, patient meals, consumables, waste, samples and test results from one place to another; enabling care and services to continue.

Main duties, tasks & skills required

You will work with and alongside a wide variety of both internal hospital staff and management from many areas of the hospital and external contacts including patients, their families and contractors.

The role involves walking to various areas within and around the hospital building.

The role also includes frequent carrying of weights, which can be bulky such as gas cylinders, heavy machinery and unstable loads.

Regularly the role includes reaching, stretching and bending to enable tasks to be completed.

The Porter role also includes working outside which means having to deal with wet weather, snow and ice.

About us

We are recognised as one of the leading NHS Foundation Trusts in the UK. Our vision is to Build Healthier Lives, and we recognise that we need incredible staff to do this.

Our commitment to our staff is to create the best place for them to work, and we are dedicated to:

Investing in the health and wellbeing of our staff, including a commitment of offering flexible working where we can;
Offer our staff a wide variety of training and development opportunities, to support their personal and career development objectives.

UHB is committed to ensuring that our staff are treated fairly and feel that they belong, by creating a kind and inclusive environment. This is about equity of opportunity; removing all barriers, including discrimination and ensuring each individual member of staff reach their true potential, achieve their ambitions and thrive in their work. This is more than words. We are taking action. Our commitment to an inclusive culture is embedded at all levels of the organisation where every voice is heard, driven by our diverse and active staff networks, and at Board level by the Fairness Taskforce led by our CEO. We nurture a culture which empowers staff to challenge discriminatory behaviours and to enable people to bring their 'whole self' to a kinder, more connected and bold place to work.

Job description

• Work in a safe, courteous and confidential manner whilst following Trust Policy and associated Standard Operating Procedures relating to the task being carried out
• Be in your designated place of work from agreed shift start time to agreed shift end time.
• To maintain a level of portering service throughout the Trust and or your designated work area by following a planned schedule of work as well as making flexible alterations when required
• Assist patients into wheelchairs and onto beds; ensuring their comfort in readiness for transport to a designated area
• Move patients by wheelchair or bed or stretcher around the hospital site from various wards and departments or the helipad and can involve some distance including, where directed, using the internal ambulance
• Assist patients requiring support on discharge from nursing unit or treatment area to the hospital exit points
• Ensure patient safety during transport by keeping regularly used equipment such as wheelchairs and trolleys clean, reporting improperly working equipment to supervisor for repair and storing in readily accessible area
• Complete Fire Marshall training and play an active role in ensuring the safe landing of the Air Ambulance during daylight hours * QE Site Only
• Deliver all drugs, including controlled drugs as well as IV fluids to wards and departments in accordance with policy and procedures set by clinical governance
• Deliver, collect and change all medical gases to wards and departments as well as changing gas manifolds (Full training will be provided)
• Collect all blood specimens and routine specimens from all wards and departments and deliver them to relevant laboratories in compliance with the safe transportation of blood specimens. Also collect blood products and deliver to wards and departments
• Respond to tasks allocated by the Supervisor or Helpdesk Controller either verbally or via communication device and / or telephone pager
• Deliver and collect all medical and non-medical equipment from wards and departments; including scrap items of furniture and equipment for disposal
• Transfer deceased patients from wards and departments to the mortuary and complete associated portering mortuary duties. Assist out-of-hours viewing with nursing staff as required
• Co-ordinate portering activity from the porter's desk, to be able to operate and have working knowledge of Portering Task Management I.T. Software System
• Provide a reception and information service out of hours
• Take an active role during emergencies including fire and all major emergencies
• Accompany emergency services to the problem area and assist as requested
• Respond and take an active role in medical emergency calls and liaise with all emergency services
• Undertake the driving of Trust vehicles where required, within the limits of the driving licence qualifications
• Wear supplied uniform in accordance with Trust policy and procedure and comply with infection control policy
• Report an accident or incident in compliance with the Trust policy and procedures
• Ensure that confidentiality is maintained at all times
• Undertake full training necessary for your role and development
• Take breaks on shift as directed by the duty Team Leader
• When working within certain areas of the Trust, waste duties will be required; the collection and handling of domestic, recycled and clinical waste, some of which may be hazardous. Waste duties can also include driving waste vehicles, transportation of waste bins and operating domestic, recycling and cardboard compaction units
• Collect and deliver all internal and external post as well as the franking of all external mail ready for posting; undertaking post room duties as requested
• Undertake small office moves and department moves as requested
• Respond to all ad-hoc requests for assistance as requested
• Using the electrical or mechanical manual handling equipment provided transport and distribute pharmaceuticals, furniture, goods, mattresses, beds, X rays and equipment
• Collection and distribution of sterile instruments, utilising the service providers tracking system
• Distribute confidential medical records, X Rays from and to wards, departments or central medical records department as required

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential

• Basic level of education in literacy and numeracy (E)

Experience

Essential

• Able to work as a team member (E)
• Dealing with the public and ability to work under pressure (E)
• Willingness to undertake specific competencies to meet the full requirements of the role (E)
• Basic I.T. Skills (E)
• Planning and organisation skills (E)

Desirable

• Organisational skills, sorting post (D)
• Previous experience within a Healthcare environment (D)
• Health and Safety (D)

Additional Criteria

Essential

• Able to demonstrate written and verbal skills in English in order to deal with staff at all levels within the organisation (E)
• Express a sympathetic and diplomatic nature, especially when dealing with sickness, bereavement and distress (E)
• Willingness to suggest, assist and implement any changes to improve our standard of care (E)
• Physically able to undertake all duties and comply with all relevant Trust policies (E)
• Flexible and reliable for the needs of the service (E)

Desirable

• Electronic communication device skills (D)
• Previous experience within a Healthcare environment (D)
• Health and Safety (D)
• Driving experience (D)

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.