NHS stories: The porter

As part of a series of articles BBC News Online reporter Jane Elliott looks behind the scenes of the NHS.

This week we focus on the story of a hospital porter whose work helps keep his hospital ticking over.

To the patients at Harefield hospital, porter Derek Cook is a shoulder to cry on.

He always has a cheery smile and tries to help.

He will even offer a bed for the night to those relatives who have left it too late to get the last train home or forgotten to book in somewhere.

But his cheery exterior hides his own painful memories.

Pain

"I have been through it myself I lost my son the same way.

"I know how the relatives are feeling and I know what they are going through.

I am one of those who likes to talk to relatives Derek Cooke

"My son was born with a heart valve missing and I had 18 years of going to and from the Royal Brompton.

"When I see people waiting I can understand how they feel, quite a lot of them are very upset."

Derek has spent the last 12 years as one of the hospital's general porters, before that he used to work as a factory mill hand. He loves the contact with the public his job now brings.

As a general porter his job can be extremely varied. One minute he can be clearing out the rubbish, the next he's taking test results to the pathology lab or packages to the pharmacy.

And if there is a fire, the porters are quickly called to the scene to help seal and search the area.

Varied

Porters are even trained in resuscitation in case a patient collapses and needs assistance, but Derek explained that his services have never been called upon, as there are always plenty of nursing staff on hand.

"But we are on call to whoever wants us.

"There is not a job in the hospital a porter does not tackle. I was even sent to the nearby village once to bring back a patient who became confused after taking her drugs and had just wandered off."

On occasions Derek can be called to help porter patients around the hospital or even to take a body to and from the mortuary, or take a relative to view their body.

"It is rare but it does happen.

"You do not take the relative in yourself, but you do sometimes go with the nurse when there is a viewing of the body.

"You lay the patient out and take them from the fridge and lay them on a couch and then you unmask their face. You have a special blanket that you lay across them."

To help with this aspect of their work some of the porters are sent on special bereavement courses so that they know how to talk to relatives.

"You are not left often with relatives, but I am one of those who likes to talk to them.

"I like to meet people. As porters we are well treated by the general public and the nursing staff.

But Derek admitted that although the army of porters are vital to the smooth running of a hospital like Harefield that they are sometimes taken for granted.

"I call us the forgotten men because any decisions that have to be made we are not involved in."

Cheryl Thompson, of Harefield Hospital admitted Derek was a treasure and an asset to the portering staff.

"Derek is a wonderful man, nothing is too much trouble for him, and he is always smiling, which has a positive effect on us all."