A day in the life of the hospice transport drivers

"The best part is helping people, it makes you feel like what you’re doing is right"

Since both retiring around ten years ago, David Raper and Bernie Farrugia have found a rewarding job with which to spend their retirement years – as St Christopher’s patient drivers.

What does a patient driver do? Why is it so fulfilling? The pair took the time to tell us why they keep coming back every week to drive for us.

David, who previously worked for 44 years as a bus driver, began driving for St Christopher’s at the age of 69.

“The best part of the job is people smiling. They’re not always smiling when you arrive but they are when they get to the hospice. We become friends with the patients,” he says.

Patient drivers usually see three or four people each day, and most often this is to bring them from their home to the hospice, and then back again. Some come to the hospice for treatment, rehabilitation sessions in the gym, therapy, or indeed, any other service we offer on-site.

“It means the world to them,” David explains. “There’s a guy I go to see – he has Motor Neurone Disease (MND). All he can move is his head. When he came here, he burst out crying, because he was finally getting the care he needed.”

Nevertheless, sometimes the medical and rehabilitative side of treatment isn’t enough when it comes to palliative and end of life care. There is a social side to our care, to be with others, to share experiences, to laugh, paint, or simply have a coffee in the Anniversary Centre. Being a patient driver has reflected this for
David, who recalled a particular stand-out person who came in once.

“He had an expensive BMW and a £3,000 wheelchair, and he said to us: ‘I want to [die].’ So, me and Bernie sat in the Anniversary Centre with him and had a cup of tea together. He went home a different man.”

Bernie, 67, retired from his job as a draughtsman ten years ago and was then recommended the driving job by a nurse who worked on the wards.

“The patients seem very grateful,” he says. “We do the things that a cab driver might not do; get them in the door or get their chairs. It comes naturally. Sometimes we help them put their shoes on. A lot of these people are in pain, so if we need to stop and gently go over speed bumps, we’ll do that and pay no mind to what the drivers behind think.”

A patient driver can be someone’s first introduction to St Christopher’s, or even their first introduction to hospice care. The journey from home to the front door can be a daunting experience, and so it takes empathy, care and a warm personality to help a someone feel at ease with coming here for the first time.

“They’re anxious about what they’re going to find here, but then you take them home later and they’re totally at ease,” says Bernie.

David and Bernie have honed their skills as our drivers; they understand how to cater to people’s feelings and how someone’s mood or energy can be vastly different from one day to the next. A patient driver doesn’t always go directly from A to B.

“You’ve got to be flexible,” Bernie tells us. “You can quite often go to someone’s house, ready to pick them up, and they’ll just go: ‘I feel too ill to come in.’ That’s just part of the job, and you have to be sympathetic.”

Despite the hard work and flexibility that the role requires, both David and Bernie would recommend taking up the role of patient driver for anyone who would like to spend their time making a real difference to those in palliative care.

“If there are any drivers looking to come out of retirement, do it!” David says.

“It’s a rewarding job and the people you work with are nice. The best part is helping people, it makes you
feel like what you’re doing is right,” Bernie adds.

Our patient driving service relies on your kind donations. To donate please contact fundraising@stchristophers.org.uk or donate here.

You can see all vacancies for roles here.

:: This story was from our Autumn/Winter issue of Connect magazine. To read the full magazine, or to sign up to receive future editions, please click here.