NHS staff who will spend Christmas Day taking care of patients

MOST of us will spend Christmas Day opening our presents, watching festive TV and tucking into a scrumptious turkey dinner with all the trimmings.

So spare a thought for the hundreds of NHS staff who will be treating patients and saving lives this December 25.

We’ve spoken to some of the individuals and teams who will be “working their stockings off” this festive period.

Sarah Bond, a midwife based at the University Hospital of Wales Sarah has been a midwife for the past 23 years and has worked many Christmas Days in her career.

She said: “It’s quite nice to be in on Christmas. We have a lovely team and it’s exciting to deliver a Christmas baby. We have a large team in with us consisting of obstetric staff, anaesthetists, midwives, theatre nurses and support workers.

“There are also full teams of staff on all other areas of the maternity unit such as the midwife-led unit, antenatal and postnatal wards, and the obstetric assessment unit as well.”

She said she’ll be working between 7am and 7.30pm on December 25.

She said the team will be bringing in food to share on Christmas Day, will have a Secret Santa, and “do their best” to enjoy the day while continuing to be professional and prepared for any eventuality. Ruth Evans, a sister on the cardiac intensive care unit at the University Hospital of Wales Ruth works in the cardiac intensive care unit which looks after people who have had heart or thoracic surgery.

“Some of our patients are seriously ill and some will only spend 24 hours with us,” said Ruth.

“Staff on this unit also move across and support the general ICU when some extra pairs of hands are needed.

“Hopefully it should be a little bit quieter for us during the Christmas period as Christmas Day falls on a Monday, so no planned surgery takes place on a weekend apart from emergency cases.

“My day at the cardiac ICU will start at 7am and I am working until 2.30pm, which means I can go home to spend some time with my family. My husband will be cooking Christmas dinner and I make the gravy when I get in – that’s the deal in our house at Christmas.

“I have two sons who are 16 and 19 so it’s lovely to spend the time together as a family.

“Many of my colleagues will be working from 7am to 7pm if they are working a long day.

“We try to make Christmas special for patients on our wards. We have presents for the patients, we wear Santa hats, we have carols playing in the background, but we are always professional and mindful that at any moment we could be faced with an emergency. Caring for our patients always comes first.

“Christmas lunch is served to patients on the ward and staff get a complimentary festive lunch too.”

Jodie Gwillim, a staff nurse at HMP Cardiff Jodie will be working her first Christmas Day at the prison. She has been a