Róbert Répássy, a carpenter in our maintenance department, shares his CUH story.
Róbert, what’s your role in our hospitals?
I’m one of the carpenters in the maintenance department here at CUH. Our carpentry team is responsible for repairing and maintaining furniture and equipment throughout our hospitals, working on both the inside and outside of the buildings.
Our buildings need to be kept in good repair so they are a safe and pleasant environment for patients, staff and visitors.
Tell us about your CUH journey
I started carpentry at a young age, watching and helping my grandfather in his shed in Hungary. After school I formalised my carpentry skills at vocational college and went on to get a job making film sets. I’ve helped create sets for films such as Eragon, Going Postal, Munich and Robin Hood.
Coming to England was one of those spur-of-the-moment decisions - a friend was moving to the UK and suggested I came too. I arrived in Cambridge at 11:00 and by 12:00 I was working in a sandwich shop!
My interest in working at CUH started after I had two operations here. It was a very positive experience, I received excellent care and wanted to give something back. Plus I have friends working at CUH - Linas Markauskas and Greg Bieganski - who said how much they enjoy working for Medirest. So I applied for a role as a member of the deep clean team and found out my application was successful on Christmas Eve 2013. I started working here in January 2014 and my supervisors were Terry Cooper and Jonathan Gilbert. I learned a lot from them and it was a great team to work with; we still keep in touch.
I went on to become a housekeeper on G2, at that time a dialysis ward, where I met some amazing staff like sisters Nova and Ruth and the rest of the team, as well as some lovely patients who came regularly for treatment. It was there I met two of the carpenters, Don and Nigel, who came to fix the fire doors and we chatted about their roles.
Unfortunately there wasn’t an opening in the carpentry team so I applied and got a role as a water quality engineer. It was in that role that I started to get to know the whole hospital as we went to check the temperature and water quality, getting samples from all clinical and non-clinical areas.
I was delighted to start work with the carpenters when a vacancy arose due to retirement in March 2016.
I work with incredible people and have learned so much from everyone in the team.
What does a usual day look like?
Busy and varied. We receive prioritised jobs via our mobiles and we can work anywhere across the hospitals. I frequently fix doors, locks, cabinets, pod lockers and put up noticeboards and signs. Since I joined the team I have completed 5-6,000 jobs and I walk about 20,000 steps a day!
During the pandemic it has been challenging and exciting to work as a carpenter as I frequently attended jobs on red wards. I had to gown up and check with the medical staff that I was wearing the correct PPE. I could not take my trolley in, only the necessary tools for the job which I had to sanitise afterwards. It was fascinating to see the transformation of the hospital overnight, when there were new wards and new areas established all around the site, and everyone worked together to get the job done as quickly as possible.
What do you enjoy about working at CUH?
I very much enjoy working here; I have great colleagues and I really feel like part of a team. I enjoy working with the other facilities staff such as painters and decorators, plumbers, tilers and electricians. Everyone is helpful and we all work collaboratively.
I have enjoyed learning different aspects of the job, particularly fire door specialist training and locksmith training.
I am very proud to be part of the CUH family.
My wife also works at Addenbrooke’s; she has been a housekeeper for seven years, and she also enjoys working here, helping patients.
Our son required treatment here at CUH and the management team has been very supportive, allowing me to adjust my hours to fit around my family.
What do you like to do in your spare time?
I am a regular platelet donor at the Blood Donor Centre; I usually go there once a month. I love spending time with my family and we all enjoy being outdoors – we go for bike rides to the park, feed the ducks and often go to the skatepark where my son is learning to skateboard.
In my spare time I do laser engraving and cutting, making puzzles for children, ornaments and personalised gifts of wood and my latest interest is making badges - I recently bought the equipment and enjoy making badges for friends and colleagues. I spend lots of time out in the shed as well, following in my grandfather’s footsteps! You can see some examples of my work here:
