Extraordinary determination earns Debbie award accolade

Mother of four Debbie Chalker thought she would lose her kitchen job at Gosford Hospital when the second wave of COVID-19 restrictions came into effect across NSW.

Date published: 03 May 2021

Author: Elizabeth Williams

Focus on people Healthshare NSW News Procurement services Make ready service Linen services

Not because she was no longer needed, but because mask wearing at work would be mandatory and present a huge challenge for her like never before. Debbie was born profoundly deaf and her main way to communicate at work with patients and the team is through lip reading.

“There were times when it was very frustrating – I couldn’t communicate to a single person on the floor,” Debbie said.

“There were moments when I felt like hiding behind the door.”

Despite Debbie’s fear of people not understanding or knowing she was deaf, the 60-year-old was determined to work with her manager Cindy Quarmby on a solution.

“As a leading hand (team coordinator) in the My Food Choice service at Gosford Hospital, Debbie is crucial to kitchen operations and delivery of food to patients,” Cindy said.

“We have what we call an assembly station in the kitchen. But because people had masks on and Debbie couldn’t hear, she couldn’t understand people’s requests. So we had to reduce her contact with patients and the team.”

“We came together and tried to work something out - how can we work around it? What can we do? We thought it would only be a month. Then realised it was going to be much longer,” Debbie said.

Cindy and Debbie made a sign for Debbie to wear so people knew straight away masks presented a problem, and her duties were temporarily changed.

“We gave Debbie new duties where she didn’t need to talk to people all the time, like making sandwiches or filling stock,” Cindy said.

Debbie made up for the lack of contact by bringing in homemade ‘morale boosting’ cakes and goodies to lift the team’s spirits during the COVID-19 changes. In recognition of her great work, last month Debbie was named as a finalist for the Individual Resilience Award in the 2020 Chief Executive Awards.

“My four boys and my husband are very, very, proud of me,” Debbie said.

“Working in a hospital was something I never dreamed of doing. I consider it as my second home. I love this place. My team are my work family, and I love them all to bits. And of course, my patients are all my friends.”

For more information about working with a disability at HealthShare NSW contact the Diversity team at HSNSW-AccessAndInclusion@health.nsw.gov.au.

Follow us

Follow HealthShare NSW on LinkedIn and Facebook.

Share this page

Share on LinkedIn
Back to the top of this page