Today I would like to continue my focus on the staff without whom the hospital couldn’t function. This time I’m turning my attention from portering to catering. I’m going to introduce you to a gentleman who loves his job so much that he has retired and come back to it!
Ray Gyabaah, 67, has worked for Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust as a Support Service Assistant for 17 years. Originally from Ghana, the father of two arrived in England from Holland in 2005. He decided to put down roots here for his sons’ education and settled in Moxley.
Working four days in a row from Monday to Thursday, Ray completes his week by working alternate Saturdays and Sundays. On his feet for the whole shift from 6am-2pm shift, Ray certainly gets his steps in!
Ray takes the breakfasts to the kitchens in Wards 2, 9 and 10, 11 and 12, 14 and 15 and 16 and 17 so they can prepared by the catering staff on each ward.
Another part of Ray’s job is to bring the raw ingredients, such as vegetables, packed in boxes, up from the cool store and load them into trolleys for the catering staff to prepare meals for the patients.
“I work on my own which I enjoy and I have always enjoyed my job,” said Ray. “I have my own timetable and know what I’m doing at any given time, and working on my feet all the time keeps me fit.
“Working the hours I do, it’s an early start but I finish early in the afternoon so I have plenty of time to go shopping and do housework.”
They say you can’t have too much of a good thing and Ray, whose partner of 10 years Regina is a domestic at Bloxwich Hospital, retired last year at the age of 66. But Ray he wants to stay busy before retiring for good and returning to his native Ghana.
Ray’s decision to come here for the sake of his two sons’ education has been very successful. At 22, his eldest, has just graduated with an engineering degree and started work last week and his youngest, 19, is studying motor mechanics at Walsall College.
I hope you continue doing such a sterling job for Catering, Ray, and that you carry on enjoying your job for the benefit of our patients.
Thank you so much and take care,
Ann-Marie