Interviewer

What’s your name?

Chris Bendall

It’s Chris Bendall.

Interviewer

How old are you?

Chris Bendall

51.

Interviewer

And what Friends group are you a part of?

Chris Bendall

The League of Friends of Uckfield Hospital.

Interviewer

What first inspired you to get involved with the friends group?

Chris Bendall

I was introduced by an ex-colleague of mine in my previous accountancy firm. He was the treasurer and he introduced me to them. I had spent, over the years, quite a few years in and out of hospital with various illnesses, and I just wanted to give something back, and he was retiring as treasurer and he suggested I take it on. I thought it was a really good idea.

Interviewer

And when was that?

Interviewer

Eight years ago. I guess,

Interviewer

And what is it that you specifically do?

Chris Bendall

I’m the treasurer. I deal with all the money and make sure the finances are balanced and make sure the investments we’ve got are good, and all the bills are paid on time. And obviously I’m a trustee as well. So I attend the trustee meetings once every two months and just generally help out as and when events are organised.

Interviewer

What is your favourite memory of being a part of the friends group?

Chris Bendall

It was two years ago. As part of the friends, we provide boxes of chocolates for all of the staff at the hospital at Christmas time. And we go down with about 300  boxes of chocolates to say thank you to the staff. We take turns as trustees to do it and I did mine two years ago,  and the best memory was spending the day walking around the hospital with a father Christmas hat on, giving all the staff boxes of chocolates. Just a really happy time. Everyone was happy and it was Christmas, and it was really good, and everyone was really grateful for the gift. And we were pleased to be doing something nice.

Interviewer

That’s so sweet.

Chris Bendall

I didn’t look very good in a father Christmas hat, I must admit. But it was good fun.

Interviewer

I bet it was great.

Chris Bendall

It was.  And it’s just one of those things when you walk into hospital and we literally had a pallet load of boxes of chocolates, you know, Cadbury’s heroes, and we had two car loads and it was just incredible. We do it every year actually. It’s a really nice thing to do.

Interviewer

What do you say goes into planning an event like that?

Chris Bendall

There’s a lot involved and luckily the Chairman does that one, he’s got contacts at the supermarket and there’s quite a lot of effort involved in trying to order that many chocolates. I don’t think it was quite 500 boxes, but I think it was 350, 400. He needs to get organised and then obviously what happens is the department heads all get contacted, they say how many each department needs, and then we spend the day distributing the chocolates around to each department in the hospital and making sure everyone’s got a box. So quite a lot is involved. A lot of it is just time and it’s volunteer time, but obviously we would then fund the purchase of the chocolates and we also distribute tea and coffee and hot chocolate.  That kind of thing just so that the staff have something, so they can make their own refreshments,  We do it three or four times a year as well. That quite a hands-on role. And it’s something that I think is really appreciated by the staff. because we get chance to say thank you to them and they obviously feel a bit appreciated, which I think is a nice thing.

Interviewer

Do you think that there’s still a need for the community to support hospitals?

Chris Bendall

Very much so. Especially smaller hospitals in a small town like ours, this is a smaller hospital, and it’s very much part of the community. We have got a minor injuries unit, which is very well regarded and used. And I think there is, I suppose in larger cities and they get a bit lost, but in smaller towns, particularly like Uckfield, It’s a big thing for the community hospital and people like to get involved. And I think there is a need for that as well. I think it works quite nicely. It’s a two way street.

Interviewer

How have you seen the community get involved?

Chris Bendall

We do quite a few events throughout the year. So, the town organises a summer fete, a big event, and we always have a stand there and always very popular. We organise quiz nights throughout the year, so we’ll often get maybe 150 members of the community sign up, and come and donate, and raffles, and things like that. And also we’ve had a lot of good feedback, when just recently the  surgical units closed and relocated, and that was out in the press. We got a lot of good feedback from the members of public trying to fight that move and unfortunately the move happened anyway, but there was a lot of feedback from the public and a lot of support for trying to support the hospital in keeping things going here. So it does work, and I think with a small town like Uckfield, as I say, it’s really important that we’ve got a good hospital and the people here value it, which is good. And I guess that’s similar in lots of smaller towns, it’s where it’s an asset of the community.

Interviewer

What would you say to people to encourage them to get involved today?

Chris Bendall

I would say just be aware of what’s happening and, if people want to volunteer as a trustee, they would be very welcome, although I appreciate,  I mean obviously that’s quite a big ask. I’m sure other league of friends are the same. Anybody who wants to come and get involved as trustees would be welcome.  My message to other people that may not be able to do that, is just be aware of what’s happening at the hospital and support the hospital, and events, and when there are public appeals, it might be raising money or just to let people know what’s happening.  To be involved and be aware. And obviously with social media and things now you can get quite a good following if something’s happening, you can post on social media and, it does get people engaged. And I would say that to anybody,  just be engaged in what’s happening in your local hospital, because these small hospitals do need public support because decisions are made a long way away that affect the hospital. People in the upper management of the NHS probably don’t even appreciate what it means to the community. So it’s always good to have a voice.

Interviewer

So, you mentioned that you’ve been a part of this for eight years, correct?

Chris Bendall

Yes it’s actually around 9 years, something like that, but yes. I couldn’t give you the exact date, but it’s been maybe 10 years. So yes, and I very much enjoy it. It doesn’t use up a huge amount of my time, but there’s lots going on. And to be honest with you, being the treasurer, I’m actually a chartered accountant as well, run my own accountancy business. So I can, alongside of when I’m in the office quite often I will get invoices through from the NHS or whoever, for some equipment we’ve funded. And I can manage that as part of my day as well. So it does work quite nicely.

Interviewer

That’s awesome. So during this time of you being able to volunteer and work here, how have you seen it change throughout the years?

Chris Bendall

I think the main change, it seems to be how disjointed the NHS has become, and the local hospital particularly, you know, the hospital, as it used to be, there was always different NHS departments there and different healthcare trusts operating in the hospital. And it used to be a lot easier for us as a League of Friends to know what was going on and to provide finance and to try to provide equipment and to provide support for the staff because we knew that when something was needed, the hospital manager would come to us and say, “We’ve got this issue, we’ve got this need,” and we could do that. That role has gone within the hospital and now you’ve got lots of different trusts operating from the hospital, quite disjointed and not necessarily talking to each other. Certainly not talking to us.

Chris Bendall

And quite often, you know, as a League of Friends, we have money to support the hospital. We are desperately trying to support the hospital, and sometimes things are happening that we don’t even know about until it’s too late. The surgical unit being closed down at the hospital and moved to a specialist center nearby or in another local town. But had we have been consulted, had there been a hospital manager, we’d have been consulted in that a lot earlier and might actually been able to provide finance to keep the thing going at Uckfield, which is really where we think it’s needed. And so we used to be a bit more joined-up thinking and I don’t think it is now, and it’s just the way it’s drifted I think.

Chris Bendall

So as a League of Friends, as I say, we’ve collected money and we’ve had lots of donations and legacies and things over the years, been very lucky to have a pot of finance available to help. But we feel like we’ve been,  not marginalised on purpose, but we feel that the whole way that the hospital has evolved has probably marginalised us a little bit, and I don’t think that’s a good thing. It’s just harder for us to get involved and it takes a lot more time now for the trustees to find out what’s happening within the hospital. We do eventually, but it tends to be that we are attending more meetings with NHS managers and others,  just so that we keep ourselves out there and then people know where we are and we then know what’s going on, which is a shame I think. I don’t know what the thinking was, whether it’s a cost saving thing or just the way it’s evolved, but it’s a lot harder, I think to keep supporting it when you don’t know what’s happening.

Chris Bendall

But we are very keen, and then we’re doing more, and more to try and keep our profile up within, not just within the hospital, but within local doctor surgeries, and within the town so that the people of Uckfield where we are, know what we’re doing and know we’re supporting the hospital. And the doctors and the GPs locally also know, we spend a fair bit of time on meeting with NHS departments and local GP practices,  PGS and the various NHS trusts of the various doctors. As trustees, each of us go to different meetings locally and just to, to let everyone know that the hospital is being supported for GPs locally to support the hospital as much as possible and just highlight what we’re doing and that we are there to help. But that just seems a harder task now.

Chris Bendall

I think we spend probably as much of our time trying to promote the League of Friends and to promote it to hospital staff and departments, and promote  that we have got funds available to help. Quite often another big change is the staff are quite transient nowadays. People come and they go quite quickly and they’ve moved on from various departments and once you’ve just got to know one member of staff, they’ve gone and someone else has taken over Y,  and you’ve got a lot more effort to try and work out who’s the point of contact for the various trusts. And we do spend a lot of time, and I say we as trustees generally, spend a lot of time trying to approach the various Managers and the Trusts to let them know that we have funding and we are keen to spend it and asking for ideas. But unfortunately I think the way the internal politics is, it’s very difficult to get that message across.

Interviewer

Do you feel like as you’ve gone out and put yourself out there more as trustees that it has helped a lot? Or do you feel like there’s still a disconnect?

Chris Bendall

I think there is a disconnect, I’m afraid and we are having to put ourselves out there. I don’t think it’s helped. I think there is more effort needed, you know, just to try and stand still and get to where we were before.  I’m afraid I don’t think it’s working as we’d like it to, and we would very much like to have new departments at the hospital, and be able to fund that and say “There’s a lot that we could do for the hospital, but we are not the decision makers.”  And trying to get in front of the decision makers is difficult when the NHS is changing all the time and, they’re merging as they are at the moment locally. They’re merging management of the NHS.  At a political level as well you’ve got changes being made.

Chris Bendall

So it does make it very difficult for us, and we spend more, and more time, and we would want it to be more effective than it is. I think that our main frustration is to have collected over the years a substantial amount of money for the hospital and for the benefit of the hospital and not be able to actually spend it. What we want to do is, is get in front of the right people and say, “ Yes, we’ve got this money, how can we help? How can we help the staff at the hospital do what they’re doing? How can we maybe provide another service? Or how can we help fund another service for the people of Uckfield to have our hospital fully utilised?” And, that’s a constant, I’m afraid. And that also it seems to be a constant uphill battle to keep that message going. And it’s one of the reasons we’ve recently been speaking to Attend and to David at Attend and he’s going to help us get that message out. I think hopefully, by way  of him having his contacts he can help promote us as a League of Friends and promote what we’re trying to do and help us apply some of the funds we’ve got for the benefit of the hospital.

Interviewer

I really admire your passion and like you want to help. I hope it all goes well too.

Chris Bendall

Thank you. I think I would say, you know, we’ve got a dozen or so trustees and everyone’s the same. We all feel the same way. And we are very lucky, our League of Friends is made up of a wide breadth of knowledge. You know, we’ve got ex nurses, we’ve got current nurses, we’ve got ex specialist, x-ray staff and so we are made up of a broad range of people that used to work at the hospital or other local hospitals, so know how the system works. But we’ve also got business people that have run businesses over the years and have got knowledge of how businesses work. And I’ve got knowledge of finance because that’s my role. And between us, we’ve got a lot of knowledge to give and a lot of expertise in various areas.

Chris Bendall

And we’re very lucky that we have that breadth of knowledge and that it can be applied because those people within the League of Friends that know the hospital help us to, you know, to approach the right people. So we are very lucky. The Trustees are very good, hardworking group of people, you know, and it does feel sometimes that it’s an imposition because it can be a lot of work, and we’re all volunteers, but actually you look at it and you think the cause is a good one. You know, we want a good local hospital and the people of the town do. And I think generally speaking, what we do is appreciated and it’s nice that actually when it works, we can make a difference. You know, we can fund a piece of equipment that makes a difference to patients and the staff also.

Chris Bendall

And it’s nice when it comes together and even the smaller things like boxes of chocolates at Christmas and regular top-ups of tea and coffee. The staff previously they were having to have a whip round to  buy boxes of tea bags and things so we can provide that for the staff and it’s just one less thing for them to worry about. You know, they can go to the cupboard and have a tea or a coffee or a hot chocolate whenever they want and they know that they’re not having to finance that. We can help provide that. So it’s small things like that just make, day to day working just that tiny bit easier and hopefully it makes a difference.

Interviewer

Yes.

Chris Bendall

You can’t just forget, we’ve got a lot of money. We can buy big pieces of equipment and have bought big pieces of equipment, but sometimes it’s as important to support the staff as well and make sure the water machine’s topped up and make sure there is  tea and the coffee, just to make everyone’s life a bit easier. So I think that we try and do a bit of everything.

Interviewer

Yes, I love that. Thank you.

Chris Bendall

It is good. You guys support us and we support them and it all sort of works, but I wish it worked better because you see, it’s very frustrating to know that over the years we’ve collected these funds and we would love to do much more good to the hospital that we feel sometimes that it’s very hard to do that.

Interviewer

So those were all the questions that I had prepared, but is there anything else you think I should have asked or anything else that you’d want to talk about today?

Chris Bendall

Some other local hospitals have similar sized towns around us, so they’ve got similar sized hospitals and I know they have similar frustrations to us and it’s nice to be supported by Attend and others as well because sometimes it feels like a thankless task. It isn’t when, as an example I organise purchasing bits and pieces, some consumables or whatever it be just for patient welfare,  toiletry bags and things for patients and I tend to organise them here, and sometimes they’ll get delivered here because it’s easier than trying to find the right department. And every now and again, I’ll take a box of bits and pieces to the hospital and I get to meet some of the people that are using them, the patients and the staff.

Chris Bendall

I say it’s a thankless task but no, you do get thanked and people do appreciate. So it is rewarding, but it can be a bit frustrating. I think the people on the ground, the staff, and the nurses,  and the doctors at the hospital are all doing a very fantastic job. And I think sometimes the bureaucracy gets in the way. And I wish it wasn’t like that, but we battle on and hopefully get through that and support the people that really need the support and hopefully we’ll be able to get them the equipment that they need to make their lives easier. And then it helps the patients as well. So I think it’s a very worthwhile cause and, and hopefully it just makes everyone’s lives a little bit easier.

Chris Bendall

I just wish it was easier to do that sometimes. David, we met with him and he’s going to help us do that hopefully and get in front of the right people to help with some of these. I think the people of Uckfield particularly, it’s a small town here and they do appreciate it, and it’s a busy hospital. You know, the local hospitals, the bigger hospitals are 20, 25 miles away and I’d rather, people can be seen here where we’ve got some expertise rather than have to travel to other hospitals. So, you know, I think it’s a good thing to be supporting that hospital and I think we are very lucky we’ve got a good active League of Friends that do that.

Interviewer

Yes.

Chris Bendall

So it’s good. And I think we all enjoy it. Obviously if anyone is interested to become a trustee, I would say it’s a very worthwhile thing to do. I know people have all got their own causes, but it is a worthwhile thing to do and sometimes it feels that you’re fighting a losing battle, but other times actually, you do see that you’re making a difference to people and it’s always a nice thing to see.

Interviewer

Well, thank you so much Chris. It was so nice to talk with you.

Chris Bendall

Yes, likewise.