“Here you see life from a totally different perspective. Just being with people, holding their hand and finding out about them is amazing.”
Stephen Bayliss is a singer/songwriter who found an additional vocation as a Patient Services Assistant during the COVID pandemic. He now shares his musical talents with ELHT’s patients by singing to them when they are feeling down.
He said:
"As a professional singer/songwriter I suddenly found myself unable to do the job I had lived, breathed and loved for nearly 35 years when the COVID pandemic hit.
As hospitality venues across Lancashire closed and work stopped, not only did I need to find a new source of income, I wanted to make myself useful. So when a friend suggested I apply to be a Patient Services Assistant (PSA) at ELHT, I looked into it further and found that this was the perfect solution.
Throughout the years, I have worn many hats - from tree surgeon and car valeter to car salesman. But I now know there is a true calling in the NHS. I really love my job and when people ask me what I do, I proudly tell them that I am a cleaner and a singer.
I have been singing for over 30 years making a really good living. But here you see life from a totally different perspective. Just being with people, holding their hand and finding out about them is amazing. It is so nourishing to have that interaction with people. When I am on shift, my colleagues sometimes ask me to sing to the patients when they are feeling down. To be able to do that and see their spirits lift is incaredible.
I thoroughly enjoy working at ELHT and I truly believe I am destined to be doing this job. I never realised how much seeing people in pain and how quickly their lives can change would move me. And even though I am now performing again and my schedule is busy, I aim to continue my work as cleaner/porter for the good of patients and the ELHT family, whenever I have the opportunity."
If Stephen has inspired you to work in healthcare, take a look at our vacancies on www.elht.nhs.uk