Healthcare Support Workers' compassion for others shines through in travel project

Healthcare Support Worker, Jean Kelsey, is helping patients and visitors access NHS Golden Jubilee through a bench project, which is reducing difficulties for those with poorer health than others.

Jean uses public transport to reach the hospital and would often talk to patients also arriving on public transport who would tell her of the discomfort and difficulty they faced due to the walk from the local bus stops and train station to the entrance.

This prompted Jean to think about what she could do to help. 

“The walk to the hospital entrance is completely different if you're in good health, if you're in good health, it's 10 minutes, but if you're in poor health, it's at least double. Some patients had to get wheelchairs as they couldn’t walk any further and others had to get taxis from the train station because they knew they wouldn't be able to walk so far”. 

“So, I thought, well if they had somewhere to sit, stop and get their breath back. So, I started to think, how can we do this? And I thought about benches. A bench might not be a lot, but for anybody that needs to sit, it's a lifeline”.  

Jean then approached various hospital staff, including cardiologists, to address the issue and began to record each comment she received from patients to present a case to our engineering team to install benches to make transport for patients to the hospital more accessible.  

After tenacious advocating for patients' needs, and on completion of a business plan, 2 benches have now been installed opposite each other at the hospital entrance.

“I've seen people sitting on the benches and think, fantastic. And people have said to me that they have seen people sitting on them. I'm so pleased. It's just nice to know that this will make a difference to people. It's been a long time in the making”. 

Going forward, Jean tells us she would like to see the installation of more benches and enhanced transport options.