W
LW
L
A PROUD DAY FOR THE NHS
Wirral Community NHS Foundation Trust has been a hive of
#NHS70 activity over the past couple of months and on Thursday
5 July they celebrated in style. As part of the NHS 70 celebrations Wirral Community NHS
Foundation Trust staff were invited to attend special services at
Westminster Abbey and York Cathedral.
Staff held tea parties in the trust’s 50 bases across Wirral and Cheshire
East. An enormous celebratory tea party for staff, patients and the
local community was held at St Catherine’s Health Centre. It was
a chance for people across Wirral to come together to celebrate 70
years of the NHS, raise a ‘cuppa’ and enjoy a cake. Local businesses
supported the event including Typhoo Tea, Moreton Diaries, Fine
Fruits Direct and a local bakery, who wished to remain anonymous. Meanwhile Nurse Practitioner for Older People Emma Taylor was
invited to a special ceremony at the House of Commons, as Regional
Winner of an MP Parliamentary Award. And Bernadette Chapman,
Specialist Safeguarding Nurse, was recognised for her long service to
the NHS at a special Department of Health and Social Care event in
London.
Guests included local people and staff, health and social care partners,
the Mayor and Mayoress of Wirral, Councillor Geoffrey Watt
and Mrs Anne Watt, Olympic hockey champion Sam Quek MBE,
Reverend James Terry from St Catherine’s Church and retired staff
who had worked at St Cath’s and across Wirral. Sam presented prizes
to the winners and runners up of the trust’s Let’s Get Creative poster
competition. Open to 5-18 year olds, the theme of the competition
was ‘Celebrating 70 years of the NHS’. The trust was overwhelmed
with more than 250 entries from children and young people of all
ages across Wirral and Cheshire East and the standard was incredible!
Well done to the winners and runners up:
•
•
•
•
•
Winner of the 5 - 10 category:
Amelie Diamond, Bebington, Higher Bebington Junior School
Runner up of the 5 - 10 category:
Murren Jones-Forfar, Higher Bebington Junior School
Winner of the 11 - 15 category:
Jessica Norton, High Legh Primary School
Runner up of the 11 - 15 category:
Ben Taylor, The Mosslands School
Winner of the 16 - 18 year old category:
Kayleigh Hulse, The Hive, Wirral Youth Zone
14 wirrallife.com
Reflecting on the day Karen Howell, Chief Executive at Wirral
Community NHS Foundation Trust, said; “The NHS has touched us
all at some point in our lives. The 70th birthday events and tea party
at St Catherine’s Health Centre allowed the local community to pause
and celebrate the incredible service that NHS staff provide. I am
extremely proud to belong to the NHS family, and it was wonderful
to see so many generations celebrating such a magnificent milestone.”
In July 1948, hospitals and health care professionals of all persuasions
were brought together for the first time to provide services free at the
point of delivery. 70 years on, the NHS has transformed the health
and wellbeing of the nation and become the envy of the world.
It is thanks to the NHS that we have all but eradicated diseases such as
polio and diphtheria, and pioneered new treatments like the world’s
first liver, heart and lung transplant.
The NHS has delivered huge medical advances and improvements to
public health, meaning we can all expect to live longer, healthier lives.
None of it would have been possible without the skill, dedication and
compassion of NHS staff over the last 7 decades.