Tea, cake and fun at hospital on day of NHS 75th birthday
It has been a day to celebrate, reflect and look to the future for staff across a Black Country hospital as the NHS turned 75.
The platinum celebration of the NHS on July 5 saw staff put up balloons and raise a cup of tea or coffee to their colleagues past and present, with hospitals across the region putting on events to mark the day.
Russells Hall Hospital in Dudley was one of many marking the date with a celebration, with fundraising staff putting on the Big Tea event, a national initiative where staff were able to pick up a hot drink and a piece of cake and donate anything they wished to do so.
There were a long line of nurses, porters and other staff lining up at wards across the hospital to get a cup of tea or coffee, with a feeling of fun in the air as those volunteering shared a joke with those being served, as well as each receiving a pin badge with 75 years displayed on it.
Head of fundraising for the Dudley Group NHS Charity Nithee Patel was among those serving and she said it was really exciting to be able to celebrate the 75th birthday of the NHS.
She said: "It's such a big milestone for the NHS and I think all staff members are really excited as everyone has been in such a good mood and it's been a brilliant day so far.
"We're doing a lot of initiatives to remember staff members that have served us over the last so many years and this is a charity initiative funded by the group and giving staff members a hot drink, slice of cake and a lovely pin badge, and it's a little gesture that makes such a difference.
"To me, 75 years of the NHS just feels like a really special moment and when you think about it, it's quite surreal that the NHS only started 75 years ago, and when you hear the stories from colleagues and patients who have benefitted from this, it's a really special milestone to get to."
The hospital has had cause for celebration on two fronts, with the 75th anniversary coinciding with the the Care Quality Commission (CQC) rating the maternity service at Russells Hall Hospital as good following an inspection in April.
The new rating had been met with delight and pride by members of the unit, with Matron Katie Philpott quick to praise her team for work in improving things on the unit.
She said: "We're incredibly excited about our rating of good for safe and well led for maternity from our inspection and the team have done a huge amount of work around our improvement practice, looking at areas where we can improve the journeys for women, birthing people and families through our service.
"This includes looking particularly around induction of labour, elective caesarean section and our triage area to make sure that the care we provide is safe, effective and makes sure that the women get really good patient experiences.
"We're all incredibly proud of the rating and of working for the NHS and to have both happen at the same time is just fantastic and lovely and, to me, the NHS is all about looking back at the first baby born here and all the families who have been through here and just being so incredibly proud to be able to provide safe and great care to the families."
Chief nurse and deputy chief executive Mary Sexton said she was ecstatic for the team and spoke about the future of both the NHS and Russells Hall Hospital.
She said: "I think it reflects all the hard work they've put in over the last couple of years and also reflects our demonstration and commitment to improving care and treatment for women, so it's been really positive for the staff to see all that hard work being recognised.
"I have worked in the NHS for 40 years and have grown up as part of the NHS family so, to me, it's very much a team effort and I think it reflects how far we've come in 75 years and how it's important that we continue to build on those improvements.
"The future of the NHS, for me, is improving outcomes for patients and people who access services and making sure that we can reduce the waiting times that some people have and invest in our workforce to make sure they are equipped to provide the care that our patients thoroughly deserve.
"We want to be central to our community here in Dudley and we see that as part of our role to promote health, but also to prevent ill health as that's equally as important."
