While many of us are busy dreaming about our perfect Christmas, countless NHS workers across Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust will be putting other people first as always as they look after patients and their relatives.
To get a better understanding of what Christmas really looks like in our hospitals, we reached out to five brilliant local NHS staff to find out how they will be spending their time on December 25th.
Elizabeth Davies - Pharmacy
Elizabeth is an Advanced Clinical Pharmacist at St Helens Hospital, and she will be working hard to ensure patients can be home to celebrate Christmas Day with their families.
It will be the first time that Elizabeth, who has worked at Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust for four years, will be working on the big day and says she is looking forward to it.
She said: “I have been here for a while now and actually volunteered because I felt it must be my time to do it and give other team members the day to celebrate with their loved ones.
“The main part of the job will be to make sure those patients who are fit for discharge will get their medications so they can get home and enjoy the day with their families, and it will be really nice to know that I will be in a position to help them do that.
“I don’t live too far away from the hospital so I will soon be able to get home myself after work and celebrate with my own family.’’
Barbara Harper and Bernie Stockley – Reception staff
Receptionists Barbara Harper and Bernie Stockley may well be the first faces who visitors to Whiston Hospital will meet on Christmas Day.
Both are working on the big day this year, making sure patients and visitors get the care and advice they need at the front door.
Bernie has worked for the NHS for 37 years and worked on Christmas Day a number of times before.
She says: “It is actually a good day to work.
“Everyone is generally in really good spirits and the best bit is seeing families, especially the younger ones who may be dressed up, coming into the hospital to see their relatives and bringing them some good cheer.
“It can be quite sad too though at times for obvious reasons because nobody really wants to be in hospital over Christmas, but I know all our staff do the best they can to keep people as upbeat as possible.
“It’s our job to make sure people get the best service possible at the front door and make their journey as nice as it possibly can be.’’
Barbara manages the reception areas across Whiston and St Helens hospitals and is happy to help out on Christmas Day.
She said: “All hospitals need reception staff to be working at all times so as a team we work out a rota in advance to make sure things are covered and we can provide the service our visitors need. We have a lovely, dedicated team and everyone is really keen to support each other.’’
Charlotte Pennington – Sister, Children’s Ward
Mum-of-two Charlotte will be one of a team of children’s nurses doing their all to support young people in hospital on Christmas Day.
Charlotte, who has worked on the children’s ward at Whiston Hospital for seven years, said: “There is always a bit of a special vibe when working on Christmas Day.
“We do try and make sure as many children as possible get to spend Christmas Day at home, but we do all we can to make things as enjoyable as possible for the ones who are in hospital on the day, their families, and their siblings.
“We have a lovely team of staff here who make sure all the patients get presents and have the best experience they can possibly have and will do all they can to keep everyone’s spirits high.’’
Charlotte, who lives in Ashton, is working the morning shift which means she will be able to spend family time with her partner and two boys at home afterwards.
She said: “I love my job and am looking forward to coming in on Christmas Day and then going home to a cooked Christmas dinner and a nice evening with the family.’’
Natasha Pritchard and Jan Fraser - Chaplains
Natasha is a Catholic Chaplain covering Whiston and St Helens hospitals who will be working on Christmas Day to support patients, relatives and staff.
It is not the first time she has covered the big day in a hospital setting and says it is something she is looking forward to,
She said: “I am really happy to go and see the patients and I will be looking to see as many as possible offering Holy Communion to them, and any staff who would like to receive it, and say a prayer to people who would like me to do that too.
“I will also be there to provide support for any families who have relatives who are close to end of life too to hopefully help them at such a sad time.
“It is something I did in my old job at the Royal Liverpool Hospital. I did every Christmas Day I could when I was there, and when the Christmas rota was mentioned here at Whiston and St Helens, I volunteered straight away.’’
Jan has worked for the NHS in Southport and Ormskirk since 2013 when she started her role as an on-call chaplain.
At the time she was employed by the Methodist church and had responsibility for two churches in Southport and as a Methodist minister was used to working Christmas day taking the Christmas day services.
She said: “As part of the spiritual care team I will still be working for some part of Christmas Day as hospital chaplain on call and also with responsibility for transferring the on-call phone to others on the rota and acting as supervising chaplain for them.
“I do offer to work some part of Christmas day every year as I feel it’s important to support people at this time of year because it can be an extra difficult time for some people.
“Over the Christmas period we still offer to take Holy Communion to those for whom it’s important, say prayers with anyone who asks and support those who are nearing the end of their live and those important to them.’’
Once her shift is over Jan will be celebrating Christmas with her three children, their partners and her three grandchildren.
Louise Lancaster – Intensive Care Nurse
It’s a sad fact that on Christmas Day there are extremely poorly people who are being treated in our hospitals.
Many of those will be in the Intensive Care Units with Senior Sister, Louise Lancaster, one of the many NHS staff who this year will be looking to ensure patients and families receive the best care possible on the big day.
Louise has worked on the ICU in Southport for nearly 20 years and will be the lead nurse on Christmas Day this year.
She said: “While many people are celebrating sadly others are critically ill and it is our job to make sure that we look after them and provide the highest level of care possible to them and their families, while at the same time making the day as good as it can be for everyone.
“I have worked in critical care for more than 18 years and understandably, Christmas Day is always a day of mixed emotions. We ensure every patient gets a gift and we all do our utmost to support both patients and their loved ones during such a difficult time in their life.
“The staff on this unit are really special and I am very proud to be part of such an amazing team of kind, caring and supportive professionals. We will do everything we can to make sure we provide the best environment we can for everyone.’’
Phil Burkett – Catering
Phil is one of the dedicated members of the Trust’s catering teams who will be doing all they can to ensure patients and visitors are looked after on Christmas Day.
A catering assistant based at Southport Hospital, Phil is on the early morning shift with a 7am start to make sure all the food is ready to go out the wards at breakfast and later in the day.
He said: “I’m looking forward to working on Christmas Day actually. It’s a normal day for us really as there will still be a lot of work to do but we are all here to do everything we can for the patients and the staff to make sure they have the best day possible.’’