Elsewhere in the hospital, volunteers are supporting elderly patients who may be spending Christmas alone.
On Ward 17, patients share their views about staff and volunteers giving up their day.
“They’re wonderful,” says one elderly gentleman.
Another says he is “not really a Christmas person”, but appreciates the company.
When a volunteer jokes that he will return singing Christmas carols and with mince pies, one patient laughs and replies: “Don’t bother.”
The volunteer they are talking about is Vinod Chawla, a retired financial advisor, originally from Bradford.
Vinod sits with patients at risk of falls, chats to those with no visitors and sometimes helps with feeding.
“I love coming here just to see patients smile,” he says. “A lot of the patients don’t get visitors. Sometimes just sitting down and having a chat makes me happy.”
A nurse passing through the ward pauses to offer her own thoughts.
She calls Vinod “fabulous”, saying he is “very helpful, very pleasant”, and “always there for the patients”.
“He helps us out as well,” she adds. “He’s an absolutely amazing man.”
For those spending Christmas Day stuck in a hospital bed, it is the small human moments – a conversation, a smile, a quiet act of kindness – that cut through the noise, reminding them that even here, and even today, they are not alone.
And for Brian, Bilal and Vinod, working Christmas Day does not mean missing out entirely.
Once their shifts are done, they too will go home – to families, to children, to meals shared later in the day.
And as Christmas continues beyond the hospital doors, they leave knowing they have shared some festive cheer, and helped deliver a little seasonal warmth where it is needed most.