UCLH porter recognised in Queen’s honours list

Four people with connections to UCLH have been given honours in the Queen’s birthday list.

Marcel Levi, chief executive at UCLH, said: “To have four people recognised is a fantastic achievement and well done to each of them. These awards are very well deserved.

“For me, everyone at UCLH deserves recognition for how well they are coping with the pandemic.

“However, I am particularly happy with the honours for Terry Allen, one of our long-standing porters, as our support staff are so crucial to everything that we do.”

This year, the awards have mainly thanked NHS staff for their work during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Terry Allen, a porter with Interserve at UCLH, received a British Empire Medal (BEM).

He has worked as a porter at UCLH for 31 years – with the last 17 years spent in our emergency department.

Terry’s role has included transferring patients suspected of having COVID-19 for diagnosis. He also transfers patients from the emergency department for MRI scans and x-rays.

He said: “It is wonderful working here. The professors, nurses, consultants are a good team and we support each other. Our chief executive Professor Levi is sociable and comes and talks to the portering team – we feel valued.”

Terry added that “his phone hasn’t stopped ringing” since the news was announced about his award.

He said: “I’ve taken some ribbing! I knew I had been nominated and thought ‘that’s nice’ but didn’t think anything would come of it. It is really nice to be recognised in this way and the honour represents a real team effort.”

Terry said he wouldn’t swap his job for any other. He said: “I meet so many different types of patients and the most of them are really nice. This job is really front-line, front of house and that’s what I like about it.”

David Johnson, Interserve’s support services manager, said Terry always comes on shift early and goes above and beyond to make sure everything runs smoothly. He added: “ I am proud of the work delivered by my whole team. They have worked tirelessly throughout the pandemic as part of the hospital’s response to COVID-19.”

Clare Gerada, a non-executive director at UCLH, has become a dame.

Professor Michael “Mick” Peake, the clinical director of the Centre for Cancer Outcomes at UCLH, was given an OBE.

Ann Hannah, RRL operations and histology manager at Health Service Laboratory, received a British Empire Medal for her services to healthcare during the COVID-19 pandemic.

They are among many other notable people what have received awards this time, including footballer Marcus Rashford, Joe Wicks, Mary Berry, Dizzee Rascal and Sir David Attenborough.