Staff accolades

An ISS porter at our Royal Derby Hospital site, whose quick-thinking and fast actions helped save a patient's life, has been shortlisted as a finalist for the Porter of the Year Award at this year’s National MyPorter Awards, held in association with NHS England.

Dom Attenborough, who was recently presented with a Patient Hero Making a Difference Award for his kindness and compassion when helping a patient and their family, was performing routine checks at the main entrance of Royal Derby Hospital when he was approached by a Security Officer for help with a distressed individual who entered the hospital with life-threatening wounds.

Reacting with speed, care and compassion, Dom and the Security Officer sprang into action and made several quick-thinking decisions before immediately transporting the individual to the Emergency Department to receive urgent life-saving surgery. For his role in getting the individual seen by the correct team at our hospital as soon as possible, Dom was praised for being critical in saving the individual’s life.

Following his heroism, the Head of Service at ISS nominated him for the Porter of the Year Award, for which he won the initial two shortlisting rounds before being confirmed as a finalist for the category at the formal awards ceremony, held on Wednesday 21 February in London.

Starting work at Royal Derby Hospital in waste portering over seven years ago through an external agency, Dom became substantively employed as an ISS porter shortly before the Covid-19 pandemic – primarily working in A&E rotation as part of a 10-person team that help facilitate patient care in the department.

As a general porter, Dom assists with a range of duties, whether that’s patient transfers across departments within the hospital, mortuary transfers, gas cylinder deliveries, the transport of key equipment and treatments, being called up to the hospitals helipad to assist with the arrival of those on board, and much more.

Dom explained how the essential skills required as a porter helped save the individual’s life that evening, explaining: “You have to be ready for anything and react as quickly as possible. You have no idea what you’re going to get, and every minute can affect the outcome of a patient and we are all very much aware of that as porters.

“It’s a bit of a motto of any hospital that if you’re lost, ask a porter – we know our sites like the back of our hand, and for situations like the one I faced with this individual, that was so important.

“When the Security Officer came to me, I immediately asked him what he needed, which he replied was a trolley, an emergency grab bag, and oxygen – so I ran down the corridor to get these items, alongside some extra bedding from a nearby unit as he was bleeding very heavily.

“We then hoisted him onto the trolley and I pushed him toward A&E as fast as I could, while the Security Officer was helping the patient while we got him there. All in all, we managed to get him into A&E and seen by the right colleagues for life-saving surgery only a couple of minutes after he had first arrived.”

After being nominated for the award by his Head of Service, Dom said that while he feels he was “just doing his job”, the recognition and appreciation he has felt has helped remind him of the impact that he and his ISS colleagues can have on the lives of our patients at UHDB.

Dom explained “As a porter, you don’t always get or nor do you expect ‘thank you’s’ when you’re at work, as we all have to focus on what we do as individuals and teams to get the patients what they need, when they need it - no matter what role you do here.

“However, at UHDB I have noticed that everyone knows colleagues at all levels, across disciplines, have a vital part to play in treating our people and ultimately, saving lives. For this individual, it was very much a joint effort between myself, the Security Officer, and the clinical staff who treated him once we got him to A&E.

“Nothing beats a smile and a ‘thank you’ from a patient. That’s probably what I love about the job the most, particularly when dealing directly with our patients: you can help take patients away from ‘being patients’ even for a moment and connect with them as people, all while getting them to where they need to be - giving them a respite during what can be a very challenging time.

“Recognition that you’re doing your job well is so important to us all, I am also autistic and have ADHD, causing me to have a lot of anxiety, which can be helped a lot with positive reinforcement. So, to receive this nomination – as well as my recent Patient Hero award – really helps me to stop and take stock of the impact I can have here, and it feels incredibly rewarding and makes such a massive difference.”

Deputy CEO and Executive Chief Financial Officer, Simon Crowther, wished Dom luck for the upcoming awards ceremony and praised him for his life-saving actions, saying: “We all have our fingers crossed for Dom to be recognised at a national level with this award. No matter what happens, I hope he recognises the achievement of being shortlisted as a finalist and appreciates that the whole UHDB family are so incredibly proud and thankful for what he did that day.

“In healthcare, every second counts. As Dom demonstrates, that’s true for every single one of our colleagues. Responding to emergencies immediately and effectively is essential to providing exceptional care, and that’s exactly what Dom did alongside the brave and quick-thinking Security Officer in attendance - making sure that he was seen by our Emergency Department within moments of his arrival.”

Dom will be attending the National MyPorter Awards alongside the RDH ISS Head of Service who nominated him for the award, who have said that should he win, they look forward to celebrating in our capital city before getting back to supporting the delivery of patient care to our communities at RDH.

From all of us at UHDB, congratulations Dom – and good luck!