Patients enjoy a happy ride with smiling Deano

IT’S PROBABLY a safe statement to suggest, that no one really enjoys a stay in hospital.

It is well documented that it causes anxiety due to unfamiliar surroundings, medical procedures, uncertainty about outcomes, separation from loved ones, and concerns about health and recovery.

Enter Dean Padget, or for those that know him, ‘The Happy Bus Driver’.

As the permanent patient transport driver for Wide Bay Health, Dean is like the orderly of the road.

“My job is to move patients in comfort, on and off stretchers or assist them with their chair into the van. I take them to medical appointments like MRI’s, outside the hospital,” Dean said.

“I always like to make sure they are on time, no matter where we are going and to assist the nurse with any clinical requirements.”

“The Hervey Bay Hospital doesn’t have it’s won MRI machine. For the size of our city and the ageing demographic, we only have three MRI machines in Hervey Bay and they are all outside of the hospital, at places like Imed and Bayside Radiology.”

Dean also looks after interhospital transfers between the public and private hospital, but it’s his high energy outlook and compassion for the patients that he is most well-known for.

“I get a real kick out of assisting the patients and making their day a little happier. I get to take them out of the hospital and for patients who have been quite unwell, they may not have even seen the sun for a little while.”

“It’s amazing how many people comment on the breeze and the enjoyment of being outside.”

“I try to keep it light and have a bit of a joke with the patients. Making them smile can be a great dose of medicine in itself.”

“Having a mother and mother-in-law with dementia, I find my facial expressions set the tone for patients suffering from the same thing.” 

“They feed off my look and body energy. Talking to and dealing with dementia patients, and seeing their reaction, gives me huge job satisfaction.”

Dean is working with up to forty patients a week, but was quick to point out that he is just a part of a great team.

“We all move in the same direction when it comes to patient care. That is the most important thing.”