Thursday, September 20, 2012

The Choir: Lewisham NHS Trust

We don't do telly reviews, nor do we usually cover anything much in Lewisham, but tonight's first episode of BBC2's The Choir: Sing While You Work featured staff from Lewisham hospital and associated Lewisham NHS services, and is worth a mention.

If you didn't see it, watch again on Tuesday 25th and get ready with your hankies. The touching thing about this episode is that the people who care for us find it difficult to sing a particularly emotive song, REM's Everybody Hurts – although they're fine with Bill Wither's more hopeful and positive Lean On Me. In a place where everyone visiting literally does hurt, the staff are trained to maintain a professional distance, for the sake of all-round sanity, a strategy that often makes one's visit or stay in hospital sometimes feel less than satisfactory – but imagine if the staff all felt your pain like you do.

It's particularly poignant when you think about how NHS staff must actually be feeling themselves what with the insecurity and damage being wrought on them by this government. The next episode features a Post Office choir in Bristol – more threatened work staff then, who need cheering up with the healing power of song.

Protect our NHS! Sign the petition to local doctors.

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