NHS Porter Honoured with Posthumous Award.

On a mantle-piece in the North-East of England proudly sits the Dennis Southern Award – an award that might not be known to many, but means so much to those that do. You may be wondering who is Dennis Southern, why is there an award in his name and why does it mean so much to certain people? Dennis was a porter with Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust from 2007 to 2021 and was nominated for the MyPorter Award 2020 by Nicola Cartwright – Area Estates & Facilities Manager at the same Trust. The awards were the first time a portering awards event had been done specifically for portering teams. What made the entry for Dennis unique, is that it was made posthumously – sadly Dennis had passed away from cancer just 2 weeks before the closing of the awards, leaving behind treasured friends, family and colleagues. It was felt by the judges that although the entry more than warranted a place for consideration at winning the MyPorter Award 2020, it just wouldn’t do Dennis, his name and his legacy justice by presenting a one-off award. It was then decided that a new award would be created for the MyPorter Awards 2021, which launches today, which alongside the MyPorter Award itself and 4 other categories, the Dennis Southern Award – For Endeavour brings this years’ awards to having a total of six categories. The Dennis Southern Award – For Endeavour, will be presented in honour of Dennis Southern, a porter that showed commitment, dedication, passion and care through his career and had a positive impact on every individual that met him, whether that was a member of staff, a patient or patients family member. He encompassed everything that a porter needs to be and more. This award is to celebrate him and the individuals within our NHS portering services who embody Dennis' morals, ethics and outlook. A longstanding member of the team and a true porter that all porters can look up to and be proud of. The Dennis Southern Award itself was created and presented to his friends, family and colleagues at the beginning of this year, with it being displayed for its first full year by his wife at home, whose mantle-piece it sits so proudly on. The aims for the MyPorter Awards 2021 is that it will host a live portering conference and awards ceremony, where it is hoped some of those close to Dennis will present the award to it’s first ever winner, live on stage. The award is in the form of a shield, which will allow the name of a new winner each year to be engraved onto the Dennis Southern Award, allowing Dennis’ name and legacy to live on and inspire a new generation of porters. Dennis was known and loved by all who knew and worked with him. He could engage with patients, delivering a level of professional and compassionate dignity to everyone he met. When Dennis was diagnosed with cancer in 2015 and underwent surgery, he typically returned to work quickly and with as little fuss as possible. Similarly, in 2017 and again in 2020, and when he required further treatment, Dennis returned to the job he loved as soon as he was able. Devastatingly, in late 2020, Dennis received the news that cancer had spread and could not be treated. Dennis reluctantly stopped working at the end of 2020 to spend time with his wife, also an NHS Trust employee and his family. Sadly, Dennis passed away on 1st February 2021. He left a huge hole in his beloved portering team, but with a legacy of dedication, hard work, respect and compassion.

Nicola Cartwright, Estates and Facilities Manager at Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust nominated Dennis back in 2020. She explained: “Dennis was an incredibly hard worker, he was part of the Northumbria family and embodied the values of the trust. Originally, I nominated Dennis for the award because of his hard work and commitment, despite the personal challenges he faced outside of work. He was an absolute pleasure to be around, whether he was communicating with staff or patients, he was always so polite and kind. Sadly, Dennis passed before he could be presented with his award, but the fact that his legacy lives on through the MyPorter awards is a real nod towards the man, and porter, that he was.”

The reasons listed for honouring Dennis are the same ones shown across all six categories and why the MyPorter Awards were created in the first place. The NHS is a big machine which we all love, but everyone has their role to play – Porters are a vital cog in that big machine and you could say they are the unsung heroes of the NHS - these awards are here to shine a light on the good work they do – here is your chance to showcase your staff’s achievements to a national audience, share best practice stories when it comes to improving patient experience, highlight your successes either as an individual or team and even use it as a tool to improve staff culture and morale.

The six categories at this years’ MyPorter Awards 2021 are:

1. MyPorter Award 2021

2. Dennis Southern Award – For Endeavour

3. Portering Team of The Year Award

4. Outstanding Contribution to Patient Experience Award

5. Leadership of The Year Award

6. Newcomer of The Year Award

Entries are open now, with a deadline of: January 16th 2022

Shortlists will be listed before a live portering conference and awards ceremony takes place in February where the winners will be announced. To enter, click here: https://www.myporterlogistics.com/myporter-awards

Image: Mark Smith Business Development Manager at GV Healthcare (creators of MyPorter, right) and Damon Kent, Managing Director of NHFML - Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (left) present the Dennis Southern Award to Dennis' family.

Webinar: How to maintain capacity in times like a ping-demic

Our business development manager (and former Porter Manager) Mark Edwards presents our first webinar: How to maintain capacity in times like a ping-demic. Simply press the play button to view. Presentation: 14 minutes. Presentation + Q&A: 23 minutes.

The Secret Patient: My newfound love for hospital porters

Hull porters are leading the way in patient experience

In hospitals, across the country, portering services are working harder than ever, in extreme circumstances to get people, equipment and supplies to the right location on demand, which The Secret Patient claims to have been, like most other general members of the public, largely unaware of the amount of work that goes into portering, of which she claims to now have a new appreciation for, after an unfortunate need for a stay in hospital.

This portering workload she has seen first-hand isn't just a case of logistical efficiency; it's people's lives.

And it needs to be, take *Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, for example. The service runs between two sites, five miles apart with over 1000 beds, dealing with around a million patients every year under normal circumstances. But these are not normal circumstances, and this past 18 months, hospitals are having to adapt, reorganise, improvise and learn like never before with limitations placed on virtually every aspect of the service. Reliance on ever-dependable NHS staff, with the support of smart technology, is delivering much-needed efficiency and consistency.

A unique view - Patient Experience

The ‘Secret Patient’ Feedback from one patient’s perspective (better known to her friends as Joanna) whom has spent a week at Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, gave us a personal glimpse of her experience.

“For me, a week in Hull Royal Infirmary, even with its friendly staff and high-rise panoramic views, felt like a very long time. For a start, I’m sure I wasn’t alone in feeling the effects of the combination of the ‘no visitors’ policy and blanket coverage ‘PPE’. In fact, most days my unlikely sanity saviours turned out to be the porters who arrived doing what porters do best, to be fundamentally human. Being pushed along near-deserted corridors in a ‘wheely’ chair, negotiating turns and corners with the wind in my hair took me back to childhood, and was better than any pain relief! All the while, the porters are organising themselves on their unique form of porter communication wizardry or 'radio phones' as they call them (walkie-talkies you can text on is the best description I can think of).

After a couple of goes at this, I made a point of mentioning the 'radio phones' by way of striking up conversation. Every porter (male, female, all ages) talked with confidence about how they work and how reliant they are on them. ‘I couldn’t do my job without this’, said one porter, and I saw first-hand, what this means, and why it matters so much. Closed corridors, route diversions, 'off-limit' areas, and an obviously huge amount of operational disruption.

‘Our kit’

The radio chatter is direct, quick and, taken very seriously; also, the 'radio phones' are a source of local pride. Porters enthusiastically tell me that Hull hospitals were the first to have this tech (MyPorter as it’s apparently officially known) and add that very few hospitals in the UK have ‘our kit’.

On one trip, my porter was prompted that he hadn't acknowledged a change of location. With that, we did a swift turnaround to detour by ‘Porter HQ’ (a small office in the depths of the hospital) to make sure everything was okay? ‘Sorry about that’, he said as we set off again, ‘we all give these (taps his ‘kit’) our full attention and priority’.

I can vouch for the fact that they do, and it matters.

I’m now happy to report that I’m back home and on the mend, thankful as ever, to the NHS for having put me on the road to recovery whilst protecting me from Covid. I've had a lesson in appreciating my ‘home comforts’ and big telly, but, most of all, I'm grateful to the porters, who, with their cheeriness, humanity, and ‘wheely’ chairs it brought me the closest possible thing to the joys of Netflix!”

An NHS representative responded: “Patient feedback on our services is vital in continuing to improve how we deliver the best possible care to our patients. During every patient interaction, the role of hospital portering is to be polite, professional and caring. This helps to reassure and puts the patient at ease during each patient journey.” --- Disclaimer: The views and opinions provided are that of The Secret Patient and not of Global View or MyPorter. The Secret Patient (Joanna) is a real person and was in hospital for real reasons (which are not mentioned due to confidentiality). Global View/MyPorter did not, or would not compromise health and safety during a pandemic or at any other time by placing a member of the public into hospital. Global View/MyPorter were approached by The Secret Patient after their discharge from hospital.