Porter who helps thousands will pick up MBE

More Birthday Honours

But he admitted that he never dreamt that his job at Harrogate District Hospital would see him travelling to Buckingham Palace to collect an MBE for services to the NHS.

Grandfather-of-five Mr Witham, 72, who has worked at the hospital since 1991 and picked up the employee of the year in 2009, has been named in the Queen's Birthday Honours list which is published today.

He said: "It means an awful lot to me, but I am simply doing a job I love. The best thing is the opportunity to meet other people and help them out. It is a real honour to think that I am going to meet the Queen because of something that I love doing."

Mr Witham, who is a retired firefighter and lives in Harrogate with his wife, Jen, has given 50 years of service to the community and volunteer work.

Among the other members of the NHS to be honoured is David Radcliffe Stone OBE, the chairman of Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, who has been awarded a CBE for services to healthcare.

Margaret Oldfield, chairwoman of Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust, has been given an OBE for services to the community in South Yorkshire.

Deborah Frances Smith, a professor of molecular parasitology at York University and the chairwoman of the Medical Research Council Infections and Immunity Board, has been given an OBE for services to science.

Sally Bell, associate director of Emergency Preparedness, NHS Yorkshire and the Humber, has been awarded an MBE for services to nursing, while Martin Bennett, the joint chairman and managing director of Associated Chemists (Wicker) Ltd, has also been given an MBE for services to pharmacy in Sheffield.

Dennis Jubb has been given an MBE for services to people with dementia in Doncaster, and Dr John Chester Stevens, a former consultant clinical scientist in audiology at Sheffield Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, has been given an MBE for services to healthcare.