Hospital staff recognised during National Estates and Facilities Day

Wednesday 21 June is National Estates and Facilities Day and hospitals across the county are thanking all of those who work behind the scenes to keep our hospitals running.

United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust is inviting its 1,000 estates and facilities colleagues to take a break during the day and reflect on all of their hard work and achievements.

The team covers a wide range of roles, many hidden behind the scenes, but all critical to the running of hospitals and the experience of patients and staff. This includes porters, switchboard teams, catering teams, housekeepers, deep clean teams, maintenance teams, linen services, capital projects teams and so many more.

They are also responsible for the multi-million pound developments and structural upgrades taking place across the Trust, as well as managing the day to day services, buildings and critical infrastructure.

Every year across Lincoln, Grantham and Boston hospitals:

·                 Housekeepers serve patients around 4 million cups of tea and more than 1.2 million meals on the wards

·                 Porters help 60,000 patients to get to where they need to be in the hospitals and can walk up to 10 miles in a shift

·                 Linen services supply more than 3.6 million pieces of linen for the hospitals

·                 Post rooms manage around 1.68 million letters that are posted by the Trust

·                 More than 31,000 repairs and tasks are completed through the estates helpdesk

·                 Deep Cleaning Teams deep clean 80 wards using hydrogen peroxide vapour machines

·                 Hospital restaurants serve around 150,000 hot meals to patients, visitors and staff

·                 Over the last year the Capital Projects Team has completed the new theatres at Grantham hospital, almost completed the enabling works for the Pilgrim Emergency Department transformation and the building of the new resuscitation department at Lincoln hospital

·                 The Switchboard Team handles around 3,000 calls every day.

Director of Estates and Facilities, Mike Parkhill, said: “We will be holding thank you events in all of our restaurants for our estates and facilities colleagues. There will also be a ‘take a break’ goody bag for all colleagues so that they can take some time out and reflect on what we have achieved as a team.

“The range of roles across the team is massive, but the key point is that they all support all of our hospitals and teams, as well as patients. They keep us all fed and watered and the hospitals running efficiently, as well as maintaining our buildings and creating the state-of-the-art environments that our patients and colleagues deserve.

“They work tirelessly behind the scenes and it is great to have a national day where all of their hard work is recognised and we can take the opportunity to say a big thank you for all of their hard work.”

 Hospital chef Laurence Wells has dedicated 49 years of his life caring for others.

Laurence Wells (65) is about to celebrate his 49th anniversary of working in the NHS. He started as a trainee cook when he was just 16 years old at St George’s Hospital in Lincoln.

Laurence’s uncle was among the first male nurses in the country at Lincoln County Hospital. His aunt was also nurse in Lincolnshire. Laurence now works in the kitchens at Lincoln County Hospital alongside his nephew and a cousin. So looking after others clearly runs in his family.

At one point in his career Laurence was a diet chef. This meant he had his own kitchen in the hospital and would personally prepare food for patients with diabetes and other conditions that can be directly affected by food. He was also a night cook for a time making sure that hot breakfasts were ready for patients and staff every morning.

Laurence works alongside Team Leader Patricia Hopkins who he first trained as a cook 42 years ago.

Laurence said: “Food is an important part of a patient’s recovery. We give them the food they need to get better. I honestly don’t know where the time has gone. I would love to still be here for my 50th anniversary, even if I am working part time.

“There have been so many changes over the years with equipment and locations, but at the heart of it all is our patients and that is why we all do what we do.”

Martin Blow, a hospital porter says, the satisfaction he gets from making patients smile is the reason he has dedicated 31 years of his life to the NHS.

Martin Blow originally came for work experience at Pilgrim Hospital, Boston, when he was just 19 years old and has never looked back.

Martin said: “I never envisaged that I would ever be here for this long, but I still enjoy the job and the challenges. I love being a part of a great team and being able to have a positive impact on patient experience. If I can make them smile then it makes my day, it’s the reason why I come to work.”