Mail’s hospital heroes
I GOT SUCH A WARM FEELING
Tess Ostrom is a former training manager with Fortnum and Mason and lives in Fulham, London.
I’M AN avid Daily Mail reader and
I’m also passionate about the NHS, so when I read about the Helpforce campaign last Christmas I was keen to join up.
It’s so easy to take the NHS for granted – but it’s always there when you need it and I personally have a lot of reasons to be grateful to it. My late father had excellent care for several years when he was in and out of St Richard’s Hospital, Chichester, before he died of old age in 2012. My brother Toby had a stent fitted at St Thomas’s Hospital ten years ago and is eternally grateful for that.
I now volunteer at the Chelsea and Westminster twice a week for three hours a time helping on a surgical ward – it’s an absolute pleasure and this Christmas rather than go to my brother’s, I thought I’d do something different and pay something back to the NHS by volunteering for the day.
There were so many people who did not have visitors, which leaves them feeling a little depressed. So it was nice to touch base with them as I visited four wards.
The morning was very much about making sure people were comfortable and warm, giving them extra blankets if necessary.
We made patients tea, handed out presents and wished them a merry Christmas. Some even needed a little help to phone relatives. A lot of what we did was just taking people’s minds off their situation and I like to think we helped brighten up their day and provided some cheer.
I’m just an extra pair of hands on the ward but it’s so nice to be able to give practical help and support to patients when they may be feeling vulnerable. Hospitals can be lonely places for patients and their relatives who sometimes spend many hours waiting around and a kind word or gesture or smile can make all the difference.
Sometimes I’m dashing around fetching drinks, cutting up food for patients, asking if they’d like another pillow or blanket, reading to them, or picking up prescriptions from the pharmacy for the nurses and escorting patients for blood tests or sitting with them while they wait for an X-ray. It’s so varied and I enjoy it so much I often stay for longer than my three hours if I’m needed.
Not only have I met some amazing people through volunteering – including other volunteers – but the whole experience gives me a warm feeling. I think it’s absolutely fantastic the Daily Mail launched this campaign – lots of people like me sit at home wanting to volunteer and help out, but not knowing how, and the newspaper gave us the tools to get involved.
IN many respects, there was nothing extraordinary about Emmy Webb and Tess Ostrom’s Christmas Day. Like millions, they served up turkey and played board games.
But this compassionate pair weren’t spreading festive cheer among friends and family. Rather, they generously gave their valuable time to volunteer in a London infirmary, part of the Mail’s 34,000-strong Hospital Helpforce.
Those small acts of kindness – delivering meals, fetching prescriptions, or just extending a friendly hand – comfort patients at their most vulnerable, while easing the burden on NHS workers. To every helper, we say: A million thanks.