A hospital porter has marked a staggering 55 years of service with the Welsh NHS. Stephen Tatnell, 73, who has also worked as a receptionist and volunteered as a hospital radio DJ, said he still has no plans to retire.
Cardiff and Vale University Health Board has 1,400 capital estates and facilities staff who have a vital role in the day-to-day running of its hospitals. They include engineers, housekeepers and porters, as well as switchboard, catering and mail room staff.
Throughout the pandemic teams had to adapt to heightened pressures and an increased workload. For example, enhanced cleaning regimes, in line with infection prevention and control measures, required more estates and facilities colleagues to work in wards and areas affected by Covid.
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Stephen, from Rhiwbina, Cardiff, who celebrated 55 years of service on July 3, said he has felt privileged to work at the health board for such a long time. "I started in the post room at Cardiff Royal Infirmary (CRI) on July 3, 1967, when I was 18," he recalled.
"All my family was working for the NHS at that time. My sister worked in finance at CRI, my brother worked in the plaster room in orthopaedics and my brother-in-law worked in the estates department. It was my sister who saw the job, I applied and got it. I did that job until around 1971 when I started as a porter and I did that until a job on reception at CRI came up and I worked there but still doing portering.
"It's an interesting job. I met Richard Burton once who was visiting a patient - he was very nice. And I also managed to get the actress Fiona Fullerton to visit a friend of mine on a ward which was lovely of her."
Stephen worked at the CRI until it closed in 1999 before transferring to the University Hospital of Wales in Heath, Cardiff. "As well as being a porter at UHW I have also worked on the reception on the concourse but now I work part-time three days a week as a porter," said Stephen who has also worked as a DJ on the hospital radio from the 1970s to 1990s.
"I love the atmosphere, talking to the patients, taking them to where they need to be, having a chat and reassuring them and putting them at ease - and I've got friends in all parts of the hospital."
Stephen has received awards in recognition of his work. He was given the David Morgan award in 1987 and also the British Empire Medal in 2015 - but he has no plans to retire just yet. "I was going to retire when I was 65," he said. "But I don't have any particular hobbies and it's nice to do something that I enjoy. It keeps me active mentally and physically.
"People have asked me 'Are you still working?' or 'When are you going to retire?' but not just yet."
Cardiff and Vale UHB said that porters walk, on average, six miles per day during their working hours. Its porters have a 15-minute response time allocation and the performance target is 95%.
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