Dean on the scene to help keep hospital running
16.06.2026
There are many different teams that keep our services running, so it's fitting to recognise some of those people working behind the scenes this Estates and Facilities Day.
One of those helping to keep our sites moving is Dean Nankivell, a bank hospital porter at Glan Clwyd, Ruthin and Denbigh hospitals. He is no stranger to serving the public.
Starting as a firefighter in Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service, he rose through the ranks to become head of operational training and development as a group manager. But his skills don’t end there.
He also worked all over the world as an expert in earthquake response - and across the UK in search and rescue. Although his primary role was within the fire service, his expertise and experience took him around the globe.
So why become a porter within our Health Board?
Dean said: “After I retired from the fire service, I wasn’t sure quite what to do but I loved working within the community. I worked at Manchester Met for a while. I was in charge of everything to do with fire safety, asbestos, health and safety and then moved to North Wales.
“I didn’t want to work full-time but I wanted to do something which benefitted the community in some way. I wanted to help people – and I was lucky enough to get the role.”
Why do you like being a porter?
“Because it's community focused, the variety is unbelievable,” revealed Dean. “There's loads of different things going on, every single day is different. I love the patient interaction. That's really, really good.
“Just talking to different people, their different problems, reassuring them, having a bit of a laugh with them - a bit of banter. But that's only part of the job.
“There's lots of other facets to it. We move oxygen cylinders, we give fresh linen out, we take the food trolleys out. We do the more solemn tasks, like moving the deceased to the mortuary, we do blood collections, take people to their scans, etc.
“We do the post, take drug deliveries and other supplies, clear the rubbish. If something needs moving in a hospital, there will be a porter on his or her way. There are lots and lots of different facets and, like I said, two days are never the same.”
Do you think porter and other non-clinical staff get the recognition they deserve?
Dean said: “It’s a good point. I think a lot of the time people might walk past and see a porter having a cuppa. What they don’t realise is that person might have just been working for four hours solid, without a drink.
"As soon as a job comes through, we're out straight away because we don’t want the jobs stacking up. Sometimes people will say ‘where have you been?’ It would probably take us a while to list all the places we have been.
“I think, generally, clinical staff really appreciate what the porters do but perhaps it’s not publicised enough how vital they are to the running of the hospital. I liken it to the cleaner at NASA, when he was asked by the President: ‘What do you do here?’
“He said: ‘I’m helping to put a man on the moon.’ I think it’s the same at our hospitals. Everybody is doing their bit, but perhaps nobody really sees that work. We’re helping patients get their treatment then get them out of the door and home.”
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