In the nicest possible way, we don’t want to spend Christmas or see in the New Year with you – we’d far rather you were happy, healthy, and having fun with your friends, family and loved ones.
However, if you do need to come into our care over the festive season, we have a few little gifts for you to help ensure you don’t miss out on all the fun.
First up, the entertainment. Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without curling up to watch a festive film, catch up with the soaps or enjoy the King’s speech. And so, we have teamed up with our bedside entertainment providers Spark TSL, to give our patients free TV on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Years Day.
We also want to make it as easy as possible for you to see your loved ones so, once again, we’re offering free parking for visitors from 11.59pm on Christmas Eve, through to 11.59pm on Christmas Day.
And, as well as our formal visiting hours (2pm to 4pm and 6pm to 8pm), we are also are offering discretional open visiting where possible, so you’ll have plenty of time to unwrap your presents. As we know you’ll appreciate, we have to put the needs of our patients first, so any additional visiting must be with the agreement of our Ward Managers and Shift Leads.
The final ingredient for a happy Christmas has to be the food – and our catering teams are pulling out all the stops to give you the works on the big day.
At Grimsby and Scunthorpe there will be a three-course lunch, starting off with fruit juice, followed by turkey and all the trimmings, with Christmas pudding in brandy sauce or pears in juice for desert. On Boxing Day it’s another three-course feast of fruit juice, lion of pork steak or mushroom wellington, followed by apple crumble and custard or peaches in juice.
For our Goole patients, there’s also a festive three-course lunch, starting with orange juice or soup, followed by honey-roast turkey – again, with all the trimmings – and rounded off with Christmas pudding and brandy sauce.
If you’re just visiting, it’s worth bearing in mind that Elior, the company who run our cafes, shops and restaurants, will be operating a reduced service. Opening hours for our Grimsby and Scunthorpe sites are in the timetables below, while at Goole, the café will be closed throughout the bank holidays. However, our vending machines will be operating as normal throughout.
Finally, we would like to say a special thank you to all our staff who are working over the festive period – sacrificing spending time with their own families to care for our patients and keep our hospitals running. We really appreciate it.
From all of us here at Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust, whether you celebrate Christmas or not, we wish you all the best and hope you have a great time with your families, friends and loved ones.
