It’s the response we get from patients that makes Christmas Day memorable

Hospital canteen staff across the country will be working long hours to make sure patients get to enjoy a Christmas dinner. We talk to employees who will be serving memories on a plate this year

Caitriona Murphy, Catering Manager at UHK, will be leading her dedicated team as they work throughout the Christmas to support everyone in the hospital. Pic: Domnick Walsh

WHAT is the best part of Christmas? For many, it’s the family dinner, when everyone pulls crackers, wears silly hats, and tucks into plates of turkey, ham, and all the trimmings before snoozing in front of a film on the sofa.

Spare a thought, then, for hospital canteen staff who will be forgoing these celebrations to serve Christmas dinner to sick patients.

Caitríona Murphy, a catering manager at University Hospital Kerry (UHK), estimates she has worked “at least five or six Christmas Days” in the 25 years she has worked there. She will do so again this year, helping to serve 1,500 dinners to patients and staff.

“It’s a big production, and we start planning for it in September,” she says. “From ordering food to deciding on staff rosters, there’s a lot to organise.”

The menu was finalised months ago. For starters, there will be vegetable soup. “People wouldn’t be happy if we broke with tradition,” says Murphy. “So mains will be roast turkey and ham, stuffing, gravy, sprouts with onions and bacon, puréed carrots and parsnips, roast potatoes, and creamed potatoes. Dessert will be sherry trifle and cream or Christmas pudding and custard.”

Alternatives such as baked salmon with hollandaise sauce will also be offered, and staff make every effort to cater for patients with allergies and other dietary requirements.

Despite all this planning, Murphy’s previous experience means she knows to expect pressure in the coming days. “There can be staff shortages due to people being sick,” she says. “Lots of businesses close for Christmas, so we have to get extra deliveries, which have to be stored away. But, generally, most of the food preparation is done by Christmas Eve. On Christmas Day, we focus on getting it in the oven and plating and serving it.”

The staff also make time for festivities. The catering team try to share a meal at some point and pass around boxes of sweets and biscuits they receive from patients.

For Murphy, it’s “this camaraderie between staff and the response we get from patients that makes Christmas Day memorable”.

She remembers one particular patient who had been really ill yet managed to eat half their Christmas dinner. “They were so appreciative, and that made me realise the impact of our work,” she says. “Having something good to eat brings a moment of pleasure to a patient’s day, especially at Christmas.”

As soon as she finishes work, she will rush home to share that pleasure with her husband and three children, aged 16, 12, and nine. “Santa comes to our house on Christmas Eve when I have to work on Christmas Day, so we’ll already have had that excitement,” she says.

An emotional time for all

David Roddy, chef, who will be working at Temple Street Children's Hospital over Christmas.

David Roddy is the deputy head chef of Temple St children’s hospital. He has worked there for eight years, and this will be his fifth time working on Christmas Day.

“My team and I will prepare breakfast and then get Christmas dinner ready for the 400 or so children, staff, and families we’ll have visiting on the day,” he says.

The same festive fare will be served at Temple St as at UHK but Roddy adds that there will also be “nut roast, pasta, and treats like iced cakes and chocolate Santas for the kids as well as modifications made for anyone who follows a restricted diet”.

It’s a lot of work, but he doesn’t mind doing it because he’s aware that Christmas is “emotional” for patients.

“The kids who get to go home are excited at the thought of it. The staff make such a big effort for the kids who have to stay. We set up special tables in the canteen for families to eat together and send dinner up to the ward for families with children who are too sick to come downstairs. It’s a privilege to play a part in making memories for these families.”

Roddy has his own dinner when he gets home. He will have prepared everything the night before, and his wife will have put it in the oven. “Then I’ll make the finishing touches, we’ll put on festive music, and my wife, our two teenagers, and I will have our family celebration,” he says.

Great morale among staff

Chef Abina Forde has worked in Cork University Hospital (CUH) for 35 years and reckons she has worked “25 Christmas Days, give or take” during that time.

She explains that most hospitals have a policy of giving those with young children the day off. “I got the day off when my son and daughter, who are now in their 20s, were young and now I’m doing the same for my colleagues,” she says.

This Christmas, CUH’s catering team will prepare and serve Christmas dinner for 1,000 or so patients and staff. The main menu will be the same as in the other hospitals but alternative options include salmon with lemon and herbs and mushroom and spinach vol-au-vents in a garlic and cream sauce.

Forde works in the part of the kitchen dedicated to special dietary needs. “My job is to make lactose-free soups, gravies, and desserts and options for those who want halal food,” she says.

Even though she describes the pace on Christmas Day as “full on”, Forde always enjoys it. “There are lots of hugs in the morning and we have a quick tea or coffee together before it’s all hands on deck to get everything ready,” she says. “We try to sit down together for breakfast too. The canteen is always beautifully decorated and we wear festive hats and give secret Santa gifts. Your work colleagues are like your second family, so it’s nice to share some of Christmas with them.”

Other high points of the day include the “lovely thanks we get from patients, families, and other members of hospital staff” and visits from the lord mayor and the bishop of Cork. “With all of that going on, morale tends to be great on Christmas Day,” says Abina. “By the end of the shift, I’m usually exhausted but looking forward to getting home to dinner with my own family.”

Making a big difference

Jennifer Crowley also works in CUH. She has been a catering assistant there for 25 years and has lost track of how many Christmas Days she has worked.

“All I know is that this is the fourth one in a row,” she says. “ My 21-year-old son is a student and works part-time in the hospital kitchen, so he’ll be here this Christmas too.”

Crowley anticipates a fast pace of work on Christmas Day. “As many catering staff as possible will have been given the day off, so those of us who have to work have to work hard,” she says. “But you don’t mind because you are making a big difference to people’s day.”

She remembers an elderly lady who lived nearby and came in for dinner every year. “We’d look forward to seeing her and, when she became too sick to come, I’d deliver her dinner after my shift.”

She has other poignant memories too, particularly of families sharing their last Christmases. “We always go to great efforts for those families, setting up a separate space for them in the canteen,” she says. “You give as much of your time, kindness, and care as you can.”

Such situations make her appreciate what she has waiting for her at home. When she and her son clock off this Christmas Day, her husband will have dinner ready and waiting for them. “The three of us will sit down and consider ourselves lucky to be home for Christmas.”