From porter to doctor
Jamie is consultant in charge of ward where used to empty the bins
A HOSPITAL porter is back on his old ward where he used to empty bins – as the consultant in charge.
Jamie Campbell worked on the children’s unit front desk and ran errands at 18 after leaving school in 1998.
He said: “On night shifts I would chat to parents who were too anxious to sleep and would come to sit with me to talk at 3am. This left a big impression on me.”
His experiences as a porter, on £3.60 an hour, inspired him to enrol at medical school a year later.
Almost 20 years on, Jamie, now 36, is back at the Bristol Royal Hospital for Children as the lead consultant on an NHS starting salary of £76,000.
Dr Campbell is in charge of three high dependency units, responsible for overseeing patient care, and coordinating a team of doctors and nurses during 12-hour shifts. The dad-of-two said: “When I came back, there were lots of people who remembered me when I was a porter. “They’d joke when I walked into the operating theatre and ask me to get gas bottles and take the bins out. “It was a bit strange initially but I’ve gradually got used to it.” Jamie, from Bristol, enrolled at medical school at Cardiff University in 1999, returning to work at the hospital during his holidays over the six-year degree. He trained at other hospitals in the area before returning in 2013. He says being a porter taught him some of the skills vital for a top doctor. “It gave me great experience,” he said.