"I’m motivated and a natural team player which is an important quality to have in this job."

Stephanie enjoys the patient interaction in her role as a porter and working as a team with lots of different staff. She was working as a carer in the community but was keen to move to a permanent position and thought that portering was the perfect way into an NHS career.

Stephanie Ferris

Porter

Employer or university
Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust
Salary range
£10k-£20k

Every day I take and collect patients to and from x-ray or CT scanning and bring them back to their ward or department. Patients are in either a wheelchair or a hospital bed. I also deliver necessary medication and escort patients within the x-ray department if that’s what they need. 

In any one day, I encounter a huge variety of people! It’s very rewarding when my team leader hears from staff and patients to say how pleased they are with the service I’m providing. I get to know the patients and vice versa; just having a chat and a laugh can make them feel better.  It makes you feel good to know your hard work is appreciated and that you make a difference to the patients. 

The job’s definitely challenging sometimes, particularly when patients need persuading to go for certain procedures. We have to liaise with other departments to ensure that all the information we have is correct, that the patients are well enough to be transported, and that we’re taking them for the correct procedure at the correct time. 

I have been working as a porter at the trust for the last six months or so and am learning new things every day. I am also signed up to do an NVQ level 2 in portering and this Trust was one of the first to implement the course.

If you enjoy meeting different people and can relate to and sympathise with them, NHS portering could be the job for you.