IT may be Christmas Day, but life continues as normal at the Royal Berkshire Hospital today with staff looking after many of the patients, young and old, unable to be allowed home during the festive season.

However, the hospital has thanked the generosity of people in Berkshire for their gifts.

The local community has, once again, shown the true spirit of the festive period.

Local businesses, sports clubs, community groups, choirs, schools and individuals have been visiting, fundraising, collecting and donating to make Christmas a little brighter for patients who are in hospital at this time of year.

Staff have been incredibly busy welcoming all the visitors bearing gifts and goodwill.

Sharon Herring, Director of Nursing for Networked Care and Patient Experience said: “We are always delighted to see people from our local community who help us make Christmas that little bit more enjoyable for the patients who are with us over the festive period.

“There really have been too many to mention them all individually and we are extremely grateful to everyone. It means so much to the patients and their families, and to us too.”

Nationally, the NHS is gearing up for delivering nearly 400,000 Christmas lunches - and 1,800 Christmas babies.

Cooks will serve up food to patients spending the festive period in hospital, while 12,000 midwives will be on duty for babies born on Christmas Day.

Around a million people are expected to work on Christmas Day in the UK, with NHS staff making up a high proportion of those missing out on festive fun.

Around 97,000 nurses and 53,000 healthcare assistants will be working in hospitals, while in care homes across England some 200,000 care workers will support the vulnerable and elderly.

Some 1.5 million items of linen including bedsheets will be used in hospitals, while nearly 40,000 cleaners and more than 12,000 porters will be on duty.

Health Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, said: "I want to thank everyone across our health and care system, from the cooks making hundreds of thousands of Christmas dinners to the cleaners, nurses, doctors, care workers, paramedics and countless other staff making sure patients get outstanding care this Christmas.

"No-one wants to be away from home over Christmas but I know that staff are again pulling out all the stops so patients have the best possible time."

Meanwhile, the NHS has offered a series of tips for making Christmas dinners healthier - including not eating the turkey skin and swapping roast potatoes for baked spuds.

The advice says to serve plenty of vegetables - but do not smother them in butter - and highlights the health benefits of Brussels sprouts, which contain both folate, a B vitamin and vitamin C, which can help protect against heart disease and cancer.

The NHS guidance also notes that sprouts contain fibre "which helps to keep the digestive system healthy" - something which could be essential given the amount Britons are expected to eat over the Christmas period.