Porters and domestics
Porters are responsible for moving patients and equipment around the Centre and into and out of the Centre.
Domestics provide routine and ad hoc cleaning to clinical and non-clinical environments in line with supporting Infection Prevention Control (IPC) policies.
Porters:
- Collecting drugs from Pharmacy prior to patient discharge;
- moving patient property from pre theatre to PACU, once allocated to PACU;
- moving patients from PACU to the wards;
- taking patients to inpatient X-ray post procedure;
- moving patients down to car park to go home with relatives; and
- moving empty beds to PACU from wards.
Domestics:
- To keep the hospital in-patient areas, out-patient clinics and offices clean;
- cleaning standards according to the IPC standards upheld;
- domestics clean ward and unit areas daily and work is appraised and signed for by Matron or Nurse in Charge; and
- in theatres, domestics will clean theatres in between each patient following guidance from nursing team.
Porters have always been ring fenced as this allows nurses and HCAs to focus on patients and clinical care.
Mainly the Nursing Team: Nurses use walkie-talkies to call Porters when patients and equipment need moving.
Nurses will notify Domestics when a specific area requires cleaning or a terminal clean e.g., after MRSA or patient with diarrhoea has left room or bay.
Porters: within SWLEOC and to and from car park and pharmacy.
Domestics: each clinical area has dedicated domestics within the team and a domestic allocated daily.
Establish a line management role that is non-clinical and sits with operational team.
Clinical staff are managing the Porters and Domestics, who are considered part of the operational team. This can be encouraging as staff are motivated but clinical time is sometimes spent in role that operational manager could undertake.
- Supervisor/Manager to guide and lead team overall;
- incorporating National Cleaning Standards.
- Cross cover can be limited by behaviours and beliefs of team members who need constant supervision at times;
- episodes of conflict resolution.
- Supervisor and manager to lead team;
- regular engagement with clinical teams to share success and motivation;
- time set aside to perform appraisals, staff survey and statutory & mandatory training as it takes these groups much longer to ensure compliance;
- fair and equitable overtime and bank shift allocation.
Domestics and Porters feel part of team, receiving great feedback from patients as they also see support staff as members of the team.
Clinical time of Matrons and Senior Nurses taken away from patients to arrange domestic and porter gaps in rota and performance/conduct management.
Staff
- X 1 Pre-Theatre 07:00- 19:00;
- X1 PACU 08:00-20:00;
- X1 Oaks Ward 08:00-20:00;
- X1 Derby Ward 08:00-20:00.
Staffing is adjusted to workload. On Sundays, when there are no lists, 1-2 porters are rostered. Some will cross cover changing role from Porter to Domestics and vice versa, as required.
Staff Member’s Title: Domestic (Band 2)
2-3 work daily in Theatres (x 1 7.5-hour shift and x2 work 12 hr shift. All start at 7am)
Each ward and PACU have x1 domestic working daily