Hospital porter

Hospital porters take patients and equipment to hospital departments, for example, to the operating theatre or the X-ray department, or from ward to ward.

Also known as:

• Porter

Work activities

Hospital porters make sure that patients, equipment and patients’ notes are in the right place at the right time. They move them from ward to ward, and to and from different parts of the hospital, for example, the X-ray department. They might move patients using a stretcher, trolley or wheelchair. Porters also help to move patients to and from trolleys and beds, using equipment to help with lifting. Porters pick up and deliver equipment, blood samples and medical records, as well as moving and fitting gas cylinders. They might use trolleys or “sack trucks” when moving heavier equipment. Other tasks include:

• Sorting and handing out laundry.
• Tidying up, removing rubbish.
• Cleaning trolleys.
• Delivering mail and running general errands.

The porter might drive small vehicles, called “tugs”, between departments or hospital sites. Porters often move very frail or sick patients, or valuable pieces of equipment, so they must take a lot of care. They talk to patients, helping to reassure and comfort them as they move between parts of the hospital.

Personal qualities and skills

To be a hospital porter, you’ll need:

• Communication skills. You’ll work with patients and their families, as well as other hospital staff.
• To be friendly, sympathetic and tactful, with respect for patients’ comfort and dignity at all times.
• Practical skills.
• A sense of responsibility.
• Teamwork skills and the ability to follow instructions.
• Physical fitness because this is an active job. It includes lifting and a lot of walking.

Pay and opportunities

NHS employees are paid on the rising Agenda for Change payscale, according to their skills and responsibilities. Hospital porters start on band 2, which begins at £22,383. As a team leader, you could move up to band 3, earning up to £24,336.

NHS hospital porters usually work 37.5 hours a week. Shift work and weekend work is common. Part-time work is possible and overtime is often available.

Employers are the NHS and private healthcare companies. Opportunities for hospital porters occur in hospitals in towns and cities throughout the UK.

Where are vacancies advertised?

Vacancies are advertised on the NHS Jobs website, on job boards, in local newspapers, on the Government’s Find a Job service.

Entry routes and training

You don’t need any formal qualifications to work as a hospital porter, although you may be expected to have GCSEs in English and maths. You can apply via a direct application. When you start, you’ll usually have a brief induction course. This covers general information about the hospital, health and safety, lifting techniques and how to move specialist equipment around the hospital. Further training is usually on-the-job.

With experience, you could become a supervisor or team leader. After promotion, you could become a head porter or porter manager. You might also be able to train in another type of hospital work.

Rehabilitation of Offenders Act: This career is an exception to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. This means that you must supply information to an employer about any spent or unspent convictions, cautions, reprimands or warnings, if they ask you to. This is different from other careers, where you only have to reveal information on unspent convictions if you are asked to.

Qualifications

You may need GCSEs in maths and English to enter this career.

Adult opportunities

Age limits: It is illegal for any organisation to set age limits for entry to employment, education or training, unless they can show there is a real need to have these limits.

Relevant experience includes working with the public, especially the sick, people with disabilities or older adults.

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