A "LIFE SAVING" grandmother is to retire after volunteering at a hospital after almost 40 years.

Bidge Garton has supported hundreds of patients during her 38 years at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton.

The great-grandmother first turned up for her shift in April 1983 and has “seen it all” in the waiting rooms and corridors of the Kemptown hospital.

The Argus: Bidge Garton and colleagues from UH Sussex outside A&E at RSCHBidge Garton and colleagues from UH Sussex outside A&E at RSCH

To honour her years of service, the relatives’ room, where Bidge spent "thousands of nights, talking with thousands of people" has been renamed The Bidge Garton Relatives Room – Always Time to Listen.

Bidge, who is now in her eighties, said: “I am so proud about that. I spent so much time in that room, so many people in there with me, so many memories.

"It’s amazing that the hospital has done that for me.”

Bidge supported patients in the aftermath of the Brighton Bombing at the Grand Hotel in 1984 and cared for those who were injured during the free Fatboy Slim concert at Brighton Beach in 2002.

She also helped to raise thousands of pounds to pay for facilities in accident and emergency and started a 999 Teddy Bear Club, where primary school children were invited to visit the department, sit inside an ambulance, and bring their teddy to be x-rayed.

In 1999, she was recognised by Her Majesty the Queen for her service to the hospital.

Bidge says plans to spend her retirement watching her grandson and cricketer George Garton bowling for Sussex County Cricket Club.

She said: “There’s been so many memories. Meeting the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh at Buckingham Palace. But I think I just like listening to people, helping people – that’s why I started all those years ago.

“Going home at night, knowing that I have helped someone who is going through one of the worst days of their life, that’s probably what I take with me the most.

Julie Wiseman, volunteer services manager at the hospital, said it had been an “honour” to work alongside Bidge for 19 years.

She said: “Bidge is nothing short of a legend. She has provided reassurance, comfort and kindness to patients and relatives and supported the medical and nursing teams for all these years.

“She used to be known as the Owl of A and E because she would start her shifts late in the afternoon and still be here way after midnight – even on Christmas Day.

“She has seen everything there is to see in A and E. She’s been knocked down but always gets back up again. She has been a superb liaison between patient and relative and staff.

“It would be impossible for Bidge to go unnoticed. She is going to be so missed.”