Prior to the advent of Covid 19, we were based in the A & E Department in St Richards Hospital on Thursdays between 8pm & 11pm to listen and talk to anyone who would like support; this may be a hospital patient, a family member of a patient or hospital staff.
Some people find it easier to talk to us than a Doctor and it is very rewarding when you can talk to someone that is in distress and help. For example, we were asked by a Doctor to speak to one young man who was self-harming but who would not tell doctors anything about himself or why he was harming himself. At first he would not tell us either. However, after gentle persuasion we got the whole story and he permitted us to call his parents. It was a great result.
On another occasion, we were approached by a person who was working on duty at the hospital to ask if we were Samaritans. He told us that a year before he was going through a really bad time and the only reason he was alive was because of the support he received from the Samaritans. It was good to get such positive feedback from someone who had sought help when they were contemplating taking their own life, but who had come through it.
We want to raise the profile of the service we can provide within the hospital so, hopefully, post pandemic, we can be available there more frequently. Ideally, it would be great if, in due course, we could visit those patients on the wards that would appreciate someone to listen and talk to them.
Alex