kitchen porter hospital jobs

JOB PURPOSE

The Hospital Porter is an important member of the Fortius Clinic team, providing a safe, reliable and professional portering service to patients, clinical teams and support departments.

The role involves the safe movement of patients, equipment, materials and other items throughout the clinic, while maintaining high standards of customer service, confidentiality, infection prevention and health and safety.

Porters are expected to interact with patients, visitors and colleagues in a caring, respectful and professional manner, recognising that patients may be anxious, vulnerable or concerned about their treatment.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Patient Movement

• Safely transport patients between non-clinical areas as requested.
• Assist with the movement of patients
• Ensure patients are treated with dignity, respect and compassion at all times.
• Communicate appropriately with patients and clinical colleagues during transfers.
• Follow clinical instructions and local procedures when moving patients.
• Report any concerns regarding a patient's condition or safety to the appropriate clinical team.

Equipment & Internal Deliveries

• Safely transport medical, clinical and operational equipment around the clinic.
• Deliver and collect equipment, supplies and materials between departments.
• Assist with the movement of linen, chemicals and other authorised supplies.
• Ensure equipment is handled carefully and returned to the appropriate location after use.
• Report damaged, missing or unsafe equipment to the relevant manager.

Waste Management

• Collect and transport waste in accordance with Fortius Clinic waste management procedures.
• Ensure waste is correctly segregated and transported using the appropriate containers.
• Handle clinical, offensive, general and recycling waste safely within the scope of the role.
• Ensure waste is transferred to the designated storage areas.
• Report spillages, damaged containers, incorrect segregation or other waste-related concerns immediately.
• Follow all relevant PPE, infection prevention and environmental requirements.

Support to Clinical Departments

• Respond promptly to authorised portering requests.
• Support clinical teams with patient movements and departmental requirements.
• Deliver and collect items as requested by authorised staff.
• Prioritise tasks according to patient safety, clinical urgency and operational requirements.
• Communicate effectively when tasks cannot be completed immediately due to competing priorities.

General Portering Duties

Depending on operational requirements, the role may also include:

• Distribution of linen and other departmental supplies.
• Supporting pharmacy collections where this forms part of the agreed service.
• Assisting with movement of furniture and other operational items.
• Supporting emergency or contingency arrangements when required.
• Maintaining designated portering equipment and areas in a clean and safe condition.
• Distribute cleaning products to housekeeping Team
• Any other requests from line manager related to service support

PATIENT EXPERIENCE

The Porter represents Fortius Clinic whenever interacting with patients and visitors.

The post holder should:

• Treat every patient with dignity, courtesy and respect.
• Demonstrate patience, empathy and understanding.
• Provide reassurance to patients who may be anxious or distressed.
• Listen appropriately to patients and respond professionally.
• Maintain appropriate professional boundaries.
• Respect cultural, personal and individual differences.
• Escalate patient concerns to the appropriate clinical or management team.
• Maintain confidentiality at all times.

HEALTH, SAFETY & INFECTION PREVENTION

The post holder must:

• Follow Fortius Clinic health and safety procedures.
• Wear the required PPE for each activity.
• Follow infection prevention and control procedures.
• Use appropriate manual handling techniques.
• Complete relevant training before undertaking specialist activities.
• Carry out dynamic risk assessments where required.
• Report accidents, incidents, near misses and hazards promptly.
• Never undertake a task that they have not been trained or authorised to perform.
• Maintain a safe environment for patients, visitors and colleagues.

COMMUNICATION

Effective communication is essential to the role.

The Porter must:

• Maintain clear and professional communication with clinical and non-clinical teams.
• Respond to portering requests promptly where operationally possible.
• Keep colleagues informed where delays occur.
• Escalate urgent or unresolved requests appropriately.
• Use agreed communication systems and procedures.
• Maintain confidentiality when handling patient information.

SERVICE PRIORITIES

Portering resources must be managed according to operational and clinical priorities.

When several requests are received simultaneously, the Porter should prioritise:

• Patient safety and urgent clinical movements
• Time-critical patient transfer
• Essential linen, chemical and departmental deliveries
• Other operational requests according to agreed priorities

Where a Porter is unable to respond immediately, the requesting department should be informed and the matter escalated where necessary.

PERSON SPECIFICATION

Essential Skills & Attributes

The successful candidate should demonstrate:

• Excellent customer service skills.
• Good communication and interpersonal skills.
• A caring and professional approach.
• Ability to remain calm under pressure.
• Ability to work effectively in a busy healthcare environment.
• Good organisational and time-management skills.
• Ability to prioritise competing demands.
• Reliability and punctuality.
• Physical ability to undertake the duties of the role safely.
• Ability to follow procedures and instructions.
• Commitment to patient confidentiality.
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team.
• Flexible approach to changing operational requirements.

Desirable

• Previous experience within a healthcare, hospital, care or customer-facing environment.
• Previous portering, facilities or logistics experience.
• Understanding of infection prevention and control.
• Manual handling training.
• Experience working within a clinical environment.

No specific formal qualification is necessarily required for the role; however, all required Fortius Clinic training must be successfully completed before undertaking relevant duties.

PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS

All Porters are expected to:

• Represent Fortius Clinic professionally at all times.
• Maintain a positive and respectful attitude towards colleagues.
• Follow Fortius Clinic policies, procedures and local operating instructions.
• Work collaboratively with clinical and support services.
• Take responsibility for their own actions and performance.
• Demonstrate a willingness to learn and develop.
• Support continuous improvement within the portering service.
• Maintain professional standards even during busy or challenging periods.

CONFIDENTIALITY

The post holder may come into contact with confidential patient, clinical and business information.

They must:

• Maintain strict confidentiality at all times.
• Only access or discuss information required to perform their duties.
• Follow Fortius Clinic information governance and confidentiality requirements.
• Never discuss patients or confidential information in public areas or with unauthorised individuals.

TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT

The Porter will be expected to complete all mandatory Fortius Clinic training relevant to the role, which may include:

• Health & Safety
• Infection Prevention & Control
• Manual Handling
• Fire Safety
• Waste Management
• COSHH
• Confidentiality and Information Governance
• Safeguarding
• Patient Moving and Handling, where applicable
• Any additional role-specific training identified by management

The role provides opportunities to develop skills in healthcare operations, customer service, logistics, communication, problem-solving and team working.

KEY PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS

Performance will be assessed against the following areas:

• Patient safety and quality of service.
• Responsiveness to portering requests.
• Professional conduct and communication.
• Compliance with Fortius Clinic policies and procedures.
• Safe handling of patients, equipment and waste.
• Infection prevention standards.
• Reliability and attendance.
• Teamwork and collaboration.
• Effective prioritisation of workload.
• Customer and patient experience.

ROLE FLEXIBILITY

This job description provides an overview of the principal responsibilities of the Hospital Porter. Duties may vary depending on the operational requirements of the clinic.

The post holder may be required to undertake other reasonable duties within their level of competence, training and responsibility to support the effective operation of Fortius Clinic.

All duties must be undertaken within the employee's training, competence, agreed scope of practice and Fortius Clinic procedures.