Lewisham Hospital has had a roller coaster year but now staff are showing off more than their bedside manner with the release of a new single. Reporter HELOISE WOOD charts their progress.
WHEN musical impresario Gareth Malone swept into the corridors of Lewisham Hospital and created a choir as part of a BBC documentary, some may have thought it was a temporary fix.
Since then the facility has been the subject of a High Court battle over the future of its A&E department and many thousands of people have campaigned to keep it open.
However the hospital is hitting the headlines for its music once again with staff releasing a charity mash up single, A Bridge over You, featuring an arrangement of Fix You by Coldplay and Bridge Over Troubled Water by Simon and Garfunkel.
The singers have come a long way from when viewers first saw them auditioning just over a year ago.
When News Shopper asked choir members to cast their minds back to the heady days of auditions one former junior doctor describes almost collapsing with the excitement.
Diabetes and endocrinology registrar Zoe Davies, who was a junior doctor at the time, says: "I remember each having to stand up and sing for Gareth, with the added pressure of the TV cameras there, I felt like I might faint.
"I wanted to be a part of it so badly. It was terrifying.
"I have always loved singing, but lacked the confidence and experience to actually pursue it as a hobby."
Zoe says the experience has completely changed her life.
She explains: "I feel like it transformed my working life at the hospital - as a junior doctor I moved jobs every four months, and getting to know people was really tough. I was always an outsider.
"Now I feel like I have a family at the hospital, it's great to bump into other choir members at work.
"I really look forward to our rehearsals and I'm so proud to be a part of it. It has definitely made me more confident.
"I have also wondered how much impact the TV show had on the fantastic community support we saw during the Save Lewisham Hospital campaign."
Children’s physiotherapist Caroline Smith has enjoyed also meeting other choir members because her community-based role meant she had met hardly any of the hospital staff.
She explains: "It has given me the opportunity to do more things, develop my voice and meet people at the hospital.
"It’s meant I really feel part of the trust - before I had hardly been to the wards or the hospital.
"Being able to sing in the wards is amazing. I’ve made lots of friends through it."
Malcolm Hancock was rushed from the Intensive Care Unit straight into a recorded interview with Gareth Malone who had heard of his former career as a professional horn player.
The trust chaplain values having the chance to refresh and improve his musical skills.
He said: "I have been singing literally all my life but I can honestly say that I have learnt more technique and repertoire than ever before.
"The choir has made life just a little more complicated - but enjoyable."
New single A Bridge over You is a mash up of Fix You by Coldplay and Bridge over Troubled Water by Simon and Garfunkel.
It will go on sale on December 9 and all net profits will go to Macmillan Cancer Support and local healthcare charities.
For more information, visit: nhschoir.co.uk
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