‘In the spirit of Christmas’: NHS staff prepare thousands of presents for patients in hospital over holidays

NHS staff have been preparing thousands of presents and festive meals for patients in hospital over Christmas.

Today more than 2,000 wrapped presents will be delivered to inpatients at five hospitals, including Guy’s in Great Maze Pond, Lambeth, St Thomas’ in Westminster Bridge Road, Lambeth and neighbouring Evelina London Children’s Hospital.

The festive magic will be spread throughout two other Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust hospitals – Royal Brompton in Sydney Street, Chelsea and Harefield in Hill End Road, Uxbridge.

Across the Christmas period, the hospitals’ catering teams have been preparing more than 3,500 festive meals for NHS teams and patients to tuck into. 

This includes more than 2,000 servings of roast turkey and stuffing, 600 servings of vegan chestnut Christmas pie and more than 2,000 portions of Christmas pudding. 

A spokeswoman from the trust said that planning for this traditional feast “and all the trimmings” begins in August, to ensure everything can be ready in time. 

Chef Nedko Rusev has been trialling his Christmas starters since November, and Chef Luisa Baptista – who has worked at the Trust for 53 years – has been perfecting her stuffing recipe year after year. 

Annette White, retail catering manager at Guy’s and St Thomas’ Foundation Trust, said: “In the spirit of Christmas, it is a time when we come together to appreciate and celebrate the hard work of our exceptional teams. 

“By organising a festive lunch, we aim to create a joyful atmosphere where our colleagues can enjoy delicious food, share laughter and momentarily step away from their daily responsibilities and also enjoying our beautiful table settings and decorations.

“Christmas is one of our busiest times of the year, and we spend months planning it so that everyone can have the best experience possible – this is especially important for our patients and staff who aren’t able to make it home over Christmas.”

Evelina London Children’s Hospital has gone above and beyond, having already transformed its corridors and common spaces into a winter wonderland. 

More than 15 decorated trees have gone up, adorned with decorative doughnuts, glittery ice lollies and playful elves.

Throughout December the Play Team have been hosting a Christmas grotto for children to visit ‘virtual’ Santa, interactive concerts for all the family to enjoy as well as present and book donations. 

This year the Charity launched its Evelina’s Incredibles fundraising campaign. 

Donations will help provide opportunities for children to access health and wellbeing support across the community.

The Christmas celebrations at the Trust have been funded by Guy’s and St Thomas’ Charity, Evelina London Children’s Charity, Royal Brompton and Harefield Hospitals Charity and the Brompton Fountain. 

Pictured top: The team behind the Christmas lunch at St Thomas’ hospital (Picture: Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust)