He's been here since the very start, but four decades on Paul Davies still takes great pride at the part he plays in helping to save lives.To the thousands who visit University Hospital of Wales each day his work goes largely unnoticed. But he and his colleagues in the Supply Team are a vital cog which keeps the hospital machine purring.
Paul joined the staff from school back in 1971 and has seen the hospital’s history play out in front of him – from the Queen’s official opening on November 19th that year to the addition of new buildings and technology over the forty years that followed.
Despite clocking up an impressive four decades of service he still takes great pride in his work and satisfaction from knowing he is playing a key part in caring for patients.
He said: “It’s great to see that patients are going out fit and well in part thanks to the service we offer.
“It is a tough place to work, but it’s also nice to see that the stuff that you supply to the wards actually being used on patients.
“If you got to intensive care and you’re there every day you can see the same patient being treated with the goods you’ve supplied, and as the weeks go on they are recovering and in the end they’re going home.
“So it’s really great to see that what we supply is very important to the health of the patient. It’s a key role in their recovery.
“I think our role is very important. We are an important part of the NHS.
“Most people don’t know about the nitty gritty, and the backroom boys and the amount of work they do to make sure their relations are well looked after, and that they can be reassured they will get 100 per cent care and attention which is what patients need and deserve.”
Paul was inspired to work in the hospital while a patient himself at Cardiff Royal Infirmary and seeing first hand the care and support being offered.
He joined the hospital as a messenger boy and stood on ceremony when the Queen opened the hospital.
“One of my best memories is Her Majesty the Queen coming because I’ve never seen her, apart from then, and I’d always wanted to see her, so that day was special to me.
“It was rather busy because everybody had to be smart and everything had to be cleaned. It was all one mad rush making sure everything was ready. It was a bit chaotic making sure that everyone was in the right position.
“All I can remember on the day was I was standing outside the main Concourse reception and the Queen arrived and her entourage and they came in and I was just standing to one side in my thick three piece uniform, and it was a very very hot day. She came through reception where she was greeted by top management and she was taken to the tablet to unveil the hospital.
“There must have been a function for the Queen and her dignitaries but for the rest of the day I was back to work.”
Paul remembers the hospital being developed and was struck by its sheer size when he first visited.
He said: “Living in the area, since the early 50s I could see the building work going up but to actually work here it was very vast. It took me about six months to get my bearings but it still took a bit of time because as the years went on there were more departments coming up and you had to find new places.
“The hospital was quite different in 1971. You could put all the wards in one block, it was that quiet. Nobody knew anybody so it was great fun to go around the wards and make yourself known.
“The hospital has changed a great deal. Since I’ve been working here I’ve worked with hundreds of people. As the months went on the hospital got bigger I don’t think I’ve seen a year go by without building work happening.”
Paul said that for all the developments, and the arrival of new technologies and techniques, there is still huge demand for the basics such as gloves and bandages and he is more than happy to keep doing the often overlooked yet vital role.
He said: “I love the work, it’s a shame I can’t work for another 40 years. I’ve always loved working in the hospital ever since I started. I love the work I’m doing, I love the guys working here, I’ve been blessed with all the people I’ve been working with over the years and this group of guys here is no exception.”
“I think the hospital has a great future. It is building up new departments, a new heart department, a new children’s department, I think this place has a great focus and I hope it will go on for another 40 years.”
