While many of us are busy dreaming about our perfect Christmas, countless NHS workers across Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, including at Southport Hospital and Ormskirk Hospital, 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 three brilliant local NHS staff to find out how they will be spending their time on 25th December.
Jan Fraser – Chaplain
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.’’
Do you have a story for Stand Up For Southport? Please message Andrew Brown via Facebook here or email me at: mediaandrewbrownn@gmail.com
