Seven decades of care from NHS
UNIFORMS have changed, technology has advanced, and the challenges faced are constantly evolving.
But the one constant is the amazing people who keep it going.
The NHS has been a lifeline and a safety net for the people of the North East since the vital public service was founded in 1948.
Rarely has the service faced such an enormous challenge: a global pandemic, with Britain among the world’s worst affected countries.
Britain has again shown its admiration and love for the NHS with a weekly cheer, at 8pm on Thursday, while donations and voluntary support continues to flood in for the service’s frontline staff.
But let’s not forget that the NHS and its staff have been there for us since long before we’ve been applauding it.
Launched by the then minister of health, Labour’s Aneurin Bevan, on July 5, 1948, it was designed to remove the inequalities in access to good healthcare that had built up between rich and poor, under a system where care was either privately funded or delivered by charities.
A leaflet sent to every household at the time explained: “Everyone – rich or poor, man, woman or child, can use any part of it... But it is not ‘a charity’. You are all paying for it, mainly as taxpayers, and it will relieve your money worries in time of illness.”
We’ve searched our archive for photos of the faces of the people who keep our NHS running: nurses, doctors, admin staff, cleaners and more.
Many things have changed – modern-day nurses must be glad they
don’t have to wear those hats, at the very least.
But it’s always been important to have caring, qualified people in the job.
One of the images shows the nurses who won awards for their care at a ceremony at Newcastle General Hospital in 1969.
At the time, chief nursing officer Miss F B Shaw said it was a “constant headache” finding enough of the talented staff she needed to run the wards.
But she was full of praise for the hardworking staff she had been able to recruit as they picked up their awards.
Comparing the archive photos to some of those taken inside our
hospitals this month show a few changes – the omnipresent PPE, gloves, apron, and facemask for staff on ordinary wards, are certainly new.
But the talent and dedication from staff haven’t changed.
The picture above was taken when The Chronicle was invited behind the scenes of a County Durham maternity ward, to show how life goes on during the pandemic. And it soon became clear that the staff are doing just what they’ve done for the last 72 years: caring for us all, rich or poor, man, woman or child, come what may. Jo Crawford, head of midwifery at The University Hospital of North Durham, told us: ‘’I am so proud of the amazing teamwork from our staff, their motivation to keep business going as usual and their camaraderie has been just incredible.’’