Most weeks, I work on the floor at Harrogate district hospital, taking patients for x-rays or to the ECG department or for an endoscopy – all over the place really. Then there are specimen runs, where you take samples to the pathology labs. This week I have been covering theatre duties while the person who usually does that is on holiday. I start at 9am and finish at 5pm, and spend all day taking patients to and from the operating theatre.

It has mainly been patients going in for orthopaedic surgery. Some look forward to their operation, because they know they're going to get sorted out. When they come back out, they're happy that it went well and it's usually better than they thought. There are always patients who are nervous about having surgery. You can see it in their faces sometimes – they get a bit upset and worried about what will happen. I like to reassure them. I'll say, 'You'll be fine, I've been through it two or three times and I'm all right.'

There is a person whose job it is to coordinate which patients need to go where and they pass the information on. When a patient is in recovery, we'll get a call over our walkie-talkie to come and collect them and take them back to the ward. I also clear the rubbish from outside the operating theatre.

I work on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays since I had a car accident; I have to rest the other days. I suffered a small stroke in the accident and recovered in the stroke unit. Now, I call in there when I have time and have a chat with all the patients. I say, 'Look, I did it, there's no reason why you can't.' I try to cheer them up as much as I can because I know what it's like. There are patients who, if I'm passing their ward, I will pop in and see how they're doing and have a chat. I like the contact with the patients. You do get to know the patients who have been in for a while, and it's lovely when they go home and they're better.

• As told to Emine Saner