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Hospital porter takes load off the health service
Sophie Goodchild1 Oct 2008
Sitting in an office all day is Raymond Downer's idea of hell - his passion is being out on the wards helping people.
The portering supervisor, 46, manages a team of eight at Springfield University Hospital in Tooting and loves his job so much he has only taken one Christmas off in 20 years.
His mother was a staff nurse and he followed her into the NHS after coming to Britain from Jamaica aged 11. His grandparents looked after him as a small child, and instilled in him the importance of looking after others. He said: "Helping comes naturally to me - it's the way I was brought up."
It is this kind of dedication the Evening Standard and think-thank The King's Fund is celebrating through the NHS Champions awards. Londoners can honour nurses, doctors, dentists, porters and other healthcare staff who go beyond the call of duty to help patients.
Mr Downer added: "I like getting my hands dirty. I can't stand back if there's a job that to be done and I don't want to sit in an office all day. If I see someone struggling with a heavy bag, I'll always offer to help.
"People seem to like talking to me and will often tell me rather than their doctor what their problems are. Talking to patients helps me keep my own life in perspective - it's relatively stress free compared with the problems some of our patients have experienced." He even met his wife through his job: she came to Springfield, which treats mental health patients, as an agency nurse - and got lost on her first day.
• To make a nomination, go to www.standard.co.uk/nhschampions. You can print off and send the form to: NHS Champions, The King's Fund, Freepost 23 KE3007, 11-13 Cavendish Square, London. W1E 0AX. The closing date is 16 October.
