A day in the life of Andrew Sindle, Housekeeper, DPU
A housekeeper in our hospital since 2016, Andrew Sindle is one of the ‘go to’ people in the Day Procedure Unit thanks to his vast experience of the department and its procedures.
Andrew’s work is extremely hands on as he, and his other four colleagues, order equipment and linen as well as order and deliver food to patients who have come out of surgeries.
“It all depends on the patients, some of them come in for an operation and then go into recovery on one of the wards,” said Andrew.
“That’s when I go and see them to check they’re ok and bring them food and drinks. First thing in the morning I go down to the kitchen stores to get our orders from Serco and then I’ll take them upstairs to be stored in our department.
“During the day I also do quite a lot of cleaning: for example the trolley beds, the ones used to collect blood, in Urology or Breast screening, and notes trollies.
“I’m on my feet most of the time, always going from one place to another or talking to patients before they go in to theatres.
“This is one of the aspects of my job I like the most: establishing a good interaction with patients, helping them to feel at ease and check they and their relatives are ok.
“Sometimes I can feel they’re nervous about being in hospital and I like having a conversation with them.
“A shift on DPU could be non-stop: there could be between 15 and 50 patients coming every day. I must admit it can be challenging now we are getting back to normal, pre-pandemic patient levels.
“Our clinical colleagues are also very busy, and we all try to help each other.
“I like to think I now know DPU like the back of my hand, but, like everyone, I learn something new every day: I know where most things are and that’s thanks to the experience I’ve built up over the years. It’s great to be able to help as many people as possible”.