Stephen Lloyd, MP for Eastbourne and Willingdon, has visited the portering team at Eastbourne DGH, and spent time discussing the wide and varied aspects of the work they carry out.
There are 24 porters who work at Eastbourne DGH on a 24 hour, 7 day shift basis, with between six to eight working on any one shift during the day, Monday to Friday.
Porting Team – Mark Langley, Andy Wicks, Colin Tregear, with Stephen Lloyd, Kyle Dadswell, and Kevin Hodge, Facilities Manager
The portering team carry out a variety of tasks including moving patients on beds, trolleys and wheelchairs; moving medical and non-medical equipment, and medical gas cylinders. In addition, they are part of the emergency response teams for fires and cardiac arrest calls. They are also involved in controlling and marshalling the helipad when a helicopter is landing. The team is also responsible for putting up decontamination tents, when required for major incidents. On an average day they undertake around 280 tasks.
Stephen Lloyd MP said: “It was a real eye-opener to discover just how varied the work is as a porter in the DGH. There are 24 members of the portering department and the roles they play in our hospital to keep everything running smoothly is absolutely crucial. In a nutshell they keep the pace of transfers running across the many miles of our hospital corridors. The team told me that on average each porter walks around 16 miles a day, everyday! Our magnificent porters are the face of the DGH: I know many of them and pay tribute to the fine work they do on our behalf.”
Kevin Hodge, Facilities Manager said: “We were pleased to welcome Stephen Lloyd MP to see for himself the work of our portering team. Many patients and items are moved around the hospital by porters. They are an unsung team, but vital to the everyday functioning of the hospital.”