Porter

Porters move people and items around a hospital site.

This page has information on the role of a porter in the NHS, including entry requirements and skills needed.

Working life

As a porter, you could be moving

patients on trolleys or in wheelchairs
stores and equipment
samples of patients' blood
linens
post and parcels
waste
cylinders of gas
trolleys of food and drink

Depending on where you work in a hospital, you may have other duties including

cleaning and tidying outside areas and gritting in cold weather
cleaning indoors
replacing curtains round beds in wards

Your job title will usually reflect your duties, for example

catering services porter
security/porter
dirty linen and waste porter
operating theatre porter
kitchen porter
assistant housekeeper/porter

Some porters may drive an NHS vehicle around an NHS site or between sites.

Who will I work with?

You'll usually be a part of the portering services team within an estates department and will have contact with clinical and non-clinical staff. Depending on you are are based, and your precise role, you could work with nurses, operating department practitioners, healthcare science staff working in the life sciences, healthcare assistants, housekeepers, security staff or catering staff.

Entry requirements

There are no set entry requirements. Employers expect a good standard of numeracy and literacy. They may ask for qualifications such as GCSEs in English and maths.

Employers usually expect porters to have some relevant healthcare experience. This could be from voluntary or paid work in, for example, care work. Customer service skills are useful, too.

Some employers may ask for a driving licence.

Skills needed

Porters in the NHS have to be

friendly and helpful
calm and reassuring
physically fit for lifting, walking, pushing, etc
reliable
willing to work with staff and patients of all ages and from all walks of life
health and safety aware
able to follow instructions carefully
communication skills
organisational skills

Training and development

There are no formal training courses/programmes, but most porters will have an induction course when starting in their position. This generally covers information about the hospital, health and safety, lifting techniques etc. Further training is then given on the job

'I get to know the patients and vice versa, just having a chat and a laugh can make them feel better.’ - Stephanie Ferris, porter, Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust

Read Stephanie's real-life story

Pay and conditions Expand / Collapse

Porters working in the NHS are paid on the Agenda for Change (AfC) pay system. You would typically start on AfC band 1. With further training and experience, you could apply for more senior positions at bands 2. Team leaders of porters are typically on AfC band 3.

Porters work standard hours of around 37.5 a week. Some may work shifts including early starts, evenings, nights and weekends.

Terms and conditions will usually be different for porters working outside of the NHS.
Where the role can lead Expand / Collapse

With experience, you could move into a specialist porter role, working in a particular clinical department, with more responsibility. You could become a team leader, supervising the work of other porters. With further experience, you could become a manager, responsible for portering and other services across an NHS site or trust.

You may be able to move into other areas in the wider healthcare team such as estates services.
Job market and vacancies Expand / Collapse

Most NHS trusts advertise their vacancies on NHS Jobs. Some advertise on their own websites. You can find a list of NHS organisations on NHS Choices.

If you're applying for a role either directly in the NHS or in an organisation that provides NHS services, you'll be asked to show how you think the NHS values apply in your everyday work.

Find out more about NHS values.
Further information Expand / Collapse

For further infomation about opportunities for portering, contact your local health organisation.