Porter
Wolverhampton City Primary Care Trust
Carl W – Wolverhampton PCT
00:00:00 I have to come in and distribute boxes around the hospital. If there’s any deceased that are on the ward then I have to go and get the trolley to go and get the bodies and then take them down to the mortuary.
00:00:16 My school life I hated because when I was in my first year I was bullied and then the cock of the school got me then. Little did I know that I knew his brother and I told the next door neighbour who told his brother. Well, he sorted the cock of the school out for me. Never touched me again after that. My best memory of school is probably the girls, just having a girlfriend.
00:00:40 When I left school I went into welding because that was what my father did. I thought that I could take the same journey as him. There was a YTS scheme at the time. I did the course and put myself through night school just so I could learn a bit more about the welding. I was in welding for a while and then the recession hit where I lost my job. It was last in first out which unluckily was me.
00:01:06 And then I went into security. I was night shift supervisor on an MOD site and I loved it. People got to know me and you just looked after the site, really, they left you alone and I just did my job. It was fun, it was really good fun. But there was a serious side as well because you had a lot of things to do.
00:01:26 I was short on money the once and then I copied a tax disc and put it in my car and I was caught for it, which was a real low point. I didn’t tell my workplace what had happened because I knew that I’d lose my job straight away. But then they started bringing in ID cards for the security and then they found out and then I lost my job. At the time it felt as though I’d murdered somebody because you was ridiculed.
00:01:56 I was made to look on as I’d done really, really bad. I was just worried how I was going to feed my kids and support my family. Because I was out of work and things were running dry my Dad mentioned the PCT to me so I came here and had an interview and then I’ve been on the bank and working as a porter ever since and I’m loving it. The people are like a family but at the end of the day you can pick yourself up from anything that you’ve done.
00:02:26 The thing that energises me the most is to know that I’m doing a good job for the patients because that’s what I’m there for. They’re such great characters and I love them all individually. You know, they’ve got so many stories to tell. The biggest influences in my life has got to be my parents. They’re my rock and I know that I can always go to them for guidance because they’re my art and I love them to bits.
00:02:54 The lessons I’ve learnt along the way are to be kind, caring, listen to people, take advice that’s given to you and there are people out there that are going to help you. Even if it’s people that you don’t know, they’re still there to give you guidance. In terms of the future I just take each day as it comes. The future’s always changing so you never know where you’re going to be. I just take each day as it comes and have fun doing it.
00:03:25 ENDS
Carl W is a hospital porter in Wolverhampton, who is energised daily by the patients he serves. He describes how he has coped with challenges in life including being bullied, redundancy and being fired; and how his parents have been his rock throughout.
More information about Hospital porters
The UK average salary is £29,813
There are 37.5 hours in the average working week
The UK workforce is 47% female and 53% male
Future employment
- Lifts, escorts and wheels patients between hospital wards;
- Assists with the delivery of meals, laundry, medical supplies and post to the wards or theatres;
- Moves hospital equipment and furniture;
- Collects and disposes of refuse from wards and other departments;
- Assists with unloading and delivery of supplies.
