My name is Kate Gray, and I am the day supervisor in the portering and logistics team. My role is to supervise the day team porters, manage the equipment team and ensure the courtesy bus runs on time.
I was very humbled to hear of a nomination for a CUH award in July this year but one of my proudest moments was receiving the CEFM Ken Miller award in 2022.
What does a usual day look like?
I really like the diversity which I have in my role, you never know what’s coming into the estates and facilities team. I like problem solving and liaising with many multi-disciplinary teams supporting ward moves, declutter days, investigating porter requests and generally helping staff when needed.
I start at 06.30 with arranging and allocating the work for the equipment team and dealing with any ad hoc issues with the portering team. From an equipment and removals perspective, I work very hard to try to reallocate furniture and equipment around site to keep things from going into the skip – reuse and recycle! Most days are usually quite hectic. I can walk in excess of 10,000 steps per day!
I work tirelessly throughout the year to support the declutter work needed to keep the environment clear. I have always considered myself to be a bit of a Womble making good use of the things that I find! I once helped to put together a cinema in the day room of a DME ward, all from recycled furniture, and more recently, at very short notice, we were helping set out a space for a CUH wedding, supporting patients at their time of need.
Recently, at very short notice, we were helping set out a space for a CUH wedding, supporting patients at their time of need.
My CUH journey
I joined CUH in April 1997 as an x-ray courier, collecting patients and taking them for their imaging and radiology investigations. I moved into portering after 18 months and became a porter, a job I really enjoyed. If I could put a smile on a patient’s face and help them to relax, I could go home happy!
Opportunities arose, and I then went onto a rotary shift and managed a team of 10 porters. I was in this role for 8 years before I moved to the switchboard (before it became the Contact Centre). I was redeployed into this role following a stroke at the age of 32 and I found this to be quite a high-pressured environment. I decided to accept a position in an administration role within Hotel Services and it felt like coming home!
The day supervisor role was then advertised and I really wanted to get back into the porters lodge with the team. I was successful and the rest is history.
I was very humbled to hear of a nomination for a CUH award in July this year but one of my proudest moments was receiving the CEFM Ken Miller award in 2022. It was really lovely to be recognised by my peers.
I am passionate about the responsibility the CEFM team is given in relation to its contribution to delivering patient care. With the assistance of the portering management team, ensuring that porters are where they need to be is our priority. Making sure porters have all the relevant training they need to keep patients safe and risk free is really important and I take my role in the management of this very seriously.
I moved into portering after 18 months and became a porter, a job I really enjoyed. If I could put a smile on a patient’s face and help them to relax, I could go home happy!
Opportunities arose, and I then went onto a rotary shift and managed a team of 10 porters. I was in this role for 8 years before I moved to the switchboard (before it became the Contact Centre). I was redeployed into this role following a stroke at the age of 32 and I found this to be quite a high-pressured environment. I decided to accept a position in an administration role within Hotel Services and it felt like coming home!
The day supervisor role was then advertised and I really wanted to get back into the porters lodge with the team. I was successful and the rest is history.
I was very humbled to hear of a nomination for a CUH award in July this year but one of my proudest moments was receiving the CEFM Ken Miller award in 2022. It was really lovely to be recognised by my peers.
I am passionate about the responsibility the CEFM team is given in relation to its contribution to delivering patient care. With the assistance of the portering management team, ensuring that porters are where they need to be is our priority. Making sure porters have all the relevant training they need to keep patients safe and risk free is really important and I take my role in the management of this very seriously.
Making sure porters have all the relevant training they need to keep patients safe and risk free is really important and I take my role in the management of this very seriously.