Dedicated Dennis is honoured for working while coping with cancer
A HOSPITAL porter who kept coming to work at Northumbria’s hospitals while suffering from a rare form of cancer has been honoured with a new award in his name.
North Shields man Dennis Southern was just 64 when he died in early 2021.
He had been a porter at North Tyneside General Hospital and then at the Northumbria Specialist Emergency Care Hospital for around 15 years, after previously working fitting burglar alarms.
He leaves a wife, children and a grandchild all who work for the same NHS Trust.
A big Jimi Hendrix fan and racing pigeon enthusiast, Dennis was diagnosed with cancer in 2015.
Though he underwent treatment in 2015, 2017 and 2020, he returned to work “quickly and with as little fuss as possible” each time.
A fortnight after his death he was given the MyPorter Award by the Trust and now a new award has been named after him - and those following in his footsteps will be given the Dennis Southern Award For Endeavour.
“It is lovely,” his wife Jan told The Chronicle. “It is like anything, you don’t realise just how much people think of you until something like this happens.
“Dennis was not just liked at work, he was loved. No-one had a bad word to say about him at all.
“I know I am biased but that really was the case.”
Jan said she would always miss the “love of my life” - they had been together since they were teenagers - and added; “I think if he had his time again he would have liked to be a paramedic.
“He really went into portering as a way to wind down. He loved his job though, all of the gory details.”
Remarkably, three generations of the Southern family work for Northumbria Healthcare NHS - Jan is a secretary in the lookedafter children’s team while children Barry, Angela and Lee and grandchild Leah are also dedicated to the health service too.
In naming the award after Dennis, the Trust said: “It will be presented in honour of a porter who showed commitment, dedication, passion and care through his career and had a positive impact on every individual who met him,
whether that was a member of staff, a patient or patients family member.
“He encompassed everything that a porter needs to be and more.
“This award is to celebrate him and the individuals within our NHS portering services who embody Dennis’ morals, ethics and outlook.
“A longstanding member of the team and a true porter who all porters can look up to and be proud of.”
It took three years for Dennis to be diagnosed with cance, but when he was, in 2015, Jan said it was important for him to keep on with his job.
She said: “We lived with it and he kept working. You live with cancer. He kept going to work because if you are working you’re living not dying.
“He just lost the battle. He always lived in and loved North Shields. It was where he was born and where he worked.”
Following in the footsteps of her grandparents, mum and uncles, Dennis’ granddaughter Leah, 17, began work as a healthcare assistant at North Tyneside General Hospital in Rake Lane during the pandemic.
Jan added: “She has now started towards her nursing. Her granddad would have been so proud.” Jan said she felt the family - and Lee’s fiance Louise who is also a Trust employee - were “so lucky to work where we do in the NHS”. Nicola Cartwright, Northumbria Healthcare’s estates and facilities manager, added: “Dennis was an incredibly hard worker, he was part of the Northumbria family and embodied the values of the Trust. Originally, I nominated Dennis for the award because of his hard work and commitment, despite the personal challenges he faced outside of work. He was an absolute pleasure to be around, whether he was communicating with staff or patients, he was always so polite and kind.”
He was not just liked at work, he was loved. No-one had a bad word to say about him at all Jan Southern