Burnley hospital hero is recognised for tackling major flood…wearing pyjamas!

Shift engineer, Sean Greenwood, has been rewarded for dealing with a major internal incident at Clitheroe Community Hospital…dressed in pyjamas!
Director of Service Improvement Martin Hodgson (centre left) presents Sean with
his East Lancashire Hospitals Employee of the Month certificate, flanked by colleagues Andrew Appiah and Larry CotteyDirector of Service Improvement Martin Hodgson (centre left) presents Sean with
his East Lancashire Hospitals Employee of the Month certificate, flanked by colleagues Andrew Appiah and Larry Cottey
Director of Service Improvement Martin Hodgson (centre left) presents Sean with his East Lancashire Hospitals Employee of the Month certificate, flanked by colleagues Andrew Appiah and Larry Cottey

Sean’s rapid response to a flood inside the hospital has earned the engineer from Cliviger, near Burnley, the title "Employee of the Month" for May from East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust.

When the alarm was raised at 3am on a cold winter’s morning, Sean didn’t waste a minute and quite literally dived into action. He arrived on site to find the whole of the ground floor flooded with hot water caused by a burst pipe above the suspended ceiling. Diving straight in to try and stop the burst pipe causing further damage, Sean was immediately soaked wet through.

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“Water was spraying out all over, covering critical electrical services and equipment,” says Sean. “Suspended ceilings had collapsed as well as flooding numerous rooms and corridors.”

Undeterred, the saturated saviour continued working to stop the flood as well as co-ordinate extra subcontractor resources to ensure that the Trust’s Estates contingency plans were put in place to safeguard patient and staff safety.

Drenched from head to toe, Sean was forced to change out of soaking wet clothes into the only other clothing available on site…….a pair of patient pyjamas!

He then continued working for a further four hours to contain the flood - dressed only in pyjamas - and stayed on for an extra two hours after his shift finished to ensure minimal disruption to patient services.

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“As a result of Sean’s commitment, all outpatients’ services were available the next morning without any appointments being cancelled and the kitchen was able to provide patient meals on time,” said Sean’s boss, Operational Estates Manager , Larry Cottey.

“Sean showed true dedication to getting the job done. He continued on working to ensure minimal disruption whilst wearing patient pyjamas and despite numerous funny comments from staff and contractors!”

As Employee of the Month for May, Sean will now be shortlisted for the ELHT "Employee of the Year" award to be presented at the Trust’s STAR Awards ceremony in spring 2020.

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