"One of the kindest and most genuine people around" - Calderdale Royal Hospital employee shortlisted from 300 nominations as Porter of the Year

Dave, who was chosen from more than 300 nominations across the country, has worked as a porter at Calderdale Royal for more than 20 years.

He was nominated by operations manager, Michaela Holloway, who said: “Dave has been described as treating every patient as if they were his family member and we have emails from X-ray, Physiotherapy, CT, and Mortuary as well as numerous wards saying similar."

X-ray advanced practitioner, Laura Huggon, said: “Dave is an asset to all of us. He is one of the kindest and most genuine people around. He always goes out of his way to assist staff, and cares about every patient he meets. He was one of our original porters in X-ray and is still considered part of our team now. We are all very lucky to have him as a porter at Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust.”

Ultrasound and mammography advanced practitioner, Nicola Stephenson, said: “Dave has such a natural caring, positive nature. He always does the right thing for patients, and he is a pleasure to work with. He always looks after the patient's needs whilst also making sure the timely demands of the service are met. Even when times are tough, Dave will be seen with a smile on his face, saying hello to everyone. I never see him complaining, he just gets on with his job and offers help to others.”

Mortuary supervisor, Fran Allen, said: “Since working in the mortuary, I have always been very impressed with Dave and his care of the deceased. His empathetic nature when dealing with deceased patients is second to none. He always takes care and shows them the upmost dignity and respect. He is always polite and helpful, just a lovely guy with a gentle friendly nature. I think new starters could definitely learn from him, He is an asset to your team and should be very proud of the care he demonstrates, this does not go unnoticed by the mortuary staff.”

Chief operating officer for ISS UK, Andrew Wilkinson, said: “I went out with the ISS portering team and Dave was my teacher for the day. Some 16,000 steps later and after washing my hands 30 times, I came away exhausted but so interested by the care and service that the team provides to patients and the NHS staff. Dave was fantastic putting patients at ease and professionally navigating the corridors and wards of Calderdale Royal Hospital with a positive attitude which made me feel so humble."

Speaking on his shortlisting, Dave said: "It was a bit of a shock and out of the blue if I’m being honest with you, I wasn’t expecting it at all. I’ve never been nominated for something like this and I’m feeling quite proud. I could never do it on my own though, all the porters in the team work just as hard as I do, and I couldn’t do it without them.

"I love this job, it’s the variety, you never know what’s going to happen day in day out. Being a porter means I could be helping 50 to 100 people every day, and not just patients. Sometimes its people lost on the corridors, or even staff lost on the corridors! I feel like we, as porters, bring a bit of normality to people – we talk about their pets and just life in general which I think makes a difference."

Dave will find out if he’s won on Tuesday, February 23.