Hospital porter wins award for supporting staff

A hospital porter has been given a national award in recognition for his work supporting staff, especially women.

Mark Vipond, a Portering Supervisor at Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, introduced changes to help female staff going through the menopause.

Vipond said some were thinking of giving up work due to struggling with symptoms, so he set up an environment where people could talk openly.

"If you get people talking, you can identify different challenges that different people have and then sort of support them through whatever they've got going on in their life," he said.

Vipond said "creating a safe space" also helped with other issues, such as male mental health and improved patient care.

"You have a lot of patients going through a lot of anxiety," he said.

"A lot of worry when you're in hospital because obviously ultimately they don't want to be there.

"So, ultimately, if you can get everybody sort of working together, get on top of staff challenges first, then they're going to go on to the wards with smiles on their faces and ultimately that makes it better for your patients."

Vipond said he was "shocked" when he picked up the National MyPorter Award at a ceremony in Leeds on Tuesday.

"It's good when you can have an impact on anyone's life, whether that be patients or staff, " he said.

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