Meet the woman who’s spent 30 Christmases at Alder Hey

Alder Hey is always a special place, but according to Val Donmez it’s more magical than ever at this time of year.

The plaster team manager is celebrating 30 years at the children’s hospital which means she’s now spent 30 Christmases there.

And she smiles:

“I absolutely love it.

“We so are lucky to have the quality of services we do, and some of the best doctors going. Everybody’s aim is to give the very best care to the children we look after, and I see that day in and day out all year round.

“It’s always a special place, but at Christmas it’s even more magical.

“The staff go all out to make it fantastic. Santa comes to visit and we have a little grotto we can take the kids to, we have lots of festive activities in the atrium, and choirs singing … it’s just gorgeous.”

Val adds:

“The older I get, the more privileged I feel to have had so many happy years working here.”

Val, 60, from St Helens, marks 40 years with the NHS next year. She began her career in 1986 as a physiotherapy assistant at Broadgreen, before training as an orthopaedic practitioner.

“I came to Alder Hey in 1994, just after I’d qualified, for three months – and I didn’t want to leave.

“I had never worked with children until I came here and it was such a lovely place that I never went back.

“The kids are fantastic. They go through so much and are so accepting and we build up wonderful relationships with them and their families.

“We work as a team and we see some people for quite a few months – and more.

“Children do come here with broken bones, especially from March when the days are longer and they start going out more on their bikes and scooters, but in my department we see lots of children who are born with different orthopaedic conditions like clubfoot – or talipes – clicky hips or scoliosis of the spine (curvature) and we put hip spicas on (a medical cast used primarily on children to immobilize the hip and leg joints), spinal jackets and other casts for children post-surgery, so it’s a broad spectrum of conditions that we see.

“It’s lovely to see how well they do after surgeries, and what a difference it makes and I’m proud of being a part of that.”

Many of those patients come back to say goodbye when their treatment is finished or they’re moving on to adult care.

“I had a patient not long ago who came in and said ‘you probably don’t remember me’ but I did – I even remembered his name! It was amazing to see him so well and being discharged to adult services. He had a brilliant job and it was so good to see him – it often reduces me tears.”