While the majority of people in Stockport will spend their Christmas day with family and friends, around 700 staff at Stepping Hill Hospital will still be at work, keeping the place going as it cares for the patients who have to stay their over the holiday season.

It’s not just medical, nursing, and other staff on the wards. Patients need their Christmas dinner too, and head chef Chris Smart and his team will be working through the morning in the hospital kitchens to make sure it’s a special meal for all of them.

Chris, 58, has been working as a chef at Stepping Hill Hospital for the last 31 years, and has been head chef for the last two of them. It’s an early start at 6am as Chris begins to start the organising and rotas, as the kitchen workforce begin to prepare their turkey meals with all the trimmings, with alternatives this year of beef bourgignon or vegetarian chestnut roasts for those who want something different. Around 700 Christmas Dinners will be served to patients on the day.

Of the 31 years Chris has worked at the hospital, he has worked over Christmas Day for 25 of them. “I don’t have a problem with coming in on Christmas Day – I love it. There’s a different festive atmosphere about the day which I really enjoy. It’s satisfying to provide a really good meal for our patients and cheer up their day.”

Chris has four children and four grandchildren including twins, and lives with his two younger sons and his wife Gillian. Gillian will be working on Christmas day at the hospital too, with her job in stores. Chris and Gillian will finish work around 2:00pm, and so will still have time to have their own family celebration, and their own family dinner – which they will be preparing together.