New Chaplain is offering support to patients, families and staff

A hospital chaplain has come full circle and returned ‘home’ after swapping Hampshire for Scunthorpe.
The Rev Lizzie Toms EMN-201208-151659001The Rev Lizzie Toms EMN-201208-151659001
The Rev Lizzie Toms EMN-201208-151659001

The Rev Lizzie Toms has joined the chaplaincy team at Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust (NLaG) and is based at Scunthorpe hospital.

She is no stranger to the area having been brought up in North Lincolnshire, as her parents were both doctors in Hibaldstow.

Lizzie said: “In the old days GPs were sometimes called out to their patients while they were in hospital. I remember many an evening sitting in Scunthorpe hospital car park waiting for my Mum while she did visits!

“This new role is a bit like coming home for me! I have previously been living in Hampshire with my husband Russell but now the children have flown the nest we are free to live where we like – and for us that is North Lincolnshire.”

Lizzie has previously been working as a healthcare chaplain in Frimley Health Foundation Trust for the last five-and-a-half years.

Since starting at Scunthorpe she has been busy getting out and about as much as she can during the pandemic.

She said: “It is a bit different at the moment as COVID-19 prevents bed-to-bed visiting, but it does mean I have had time to visit the staff around the hospital.

“I seem to be especially popular when I am carrying my box of chocolates and sweeties which we were given to distribute around the staff!

“My door is always open for any staff who are finding it a bit tough at the moment, just knock or stop me when I’m passing.”

Lizzie, who says she has received the warmest of welcomes, added: “I really enjoy being a healthcare chaplain as you never know what the day will bring.”

After safely navigating her way into her new post and round the hospital, all she needs to do now is find a new home so she can be reunited with her dog Barney, a Bedlington terrier, who has temporarily had to stay behind in Hampshire!