A LONG-serving estates and facilities colleague at Musgrove Park Hospital is hanging up his porter’s trolley as he retires from the NHS.

Assistant facilities manager Steve Watts enjoyed a long and varied career, mainly at Musgrove Park Hospital, bar for a brief stint in the stores department at the former Mendip Hospital in Wells on a youth training scheme placement at the very beginning of his career.

He said: “I transferred to Musgrove as a kitchen porter in December 1981 and stayed in there for a couple of years.

“During this time I got to know the portering services manager quite well, and he asked whether I fancied coming to work for the portering team, an opportunity I jumped at, and I’ve been in that department ever since.

“I began in our estates team as a relief general porter at a time where we used to cover all of the hospitals in Taunton, including Musgrove, Trinity, East Reach Hospital and Cheddon Road.

“I was expected to assist in any of those hospitals, but other than Musgrove they were really quiet places, and A&E (or casualty as it was then) at East Reach Hospital was particularly eerie at night. They’d even turn all the lights off at 1am because there was no one coming through – a completely different story to today, where it’s flat out 24/7.”

Steve’s career took him to the roles of senior porter and shift team leader, as well as a couple of years as accommodation manager, before he finished his career as an assistant facilities manager.

He says that throughout his time in the NHS, it’s the teamwork and camaraderie with fellow colleagues that has shone through the most.

“We’ve had so many great social days and nights, especially when the old social club was open on the site of our day surgery centre,” he chuckled. “We used to play skittles after work and went on regular fishing trips on a Saturday.

“Work has been so varied, and although it may sound like a bit of a cliché, you literally don’t know what you’re coming into most days in the jobs I’ve done – I’ve certainly enjoyed most of it.”

Steve says that although it feels good to be retiring, he’s still going to return on the staff bank as a general porter, where he’ll pick up shifts here and there. He also has a number of other irons in the fire, not least in the world of sport.

He continued: “I’m quite a keen cricket and football fan and I like supporting my local clubs, so I’ll do a bit of grounds work at Wembdon Cricket Club, such as cutting the grass, and I’ll likely do the same with Stogursey Football Club.

“I might do a bit more fishing again too, and who knows I may be tempted to buy myself another motorbike too!

“I’d like to wish my colleagues well and hopefully they’ll carry on and enjoy the rest of their careers too!”