Surrey Heartlands staff join NHS 75 celebrations at Westminster Abbey
Surrey Heartlands staff join the NHS 75 celebrations as they attend historic national Westminster Abbey service
Today the National Health Service celebrates a significant landmark – its 75th birthday – and earlier today 35 members of staff from NHS organisations across Surrey attended a special multi-faith service at Westminster Abbey to be part of the celebrations and represent Surrey Heartlands at this historic national event.
The 35 members of staff included nurses, doctors, pharmacists, other frontline staff and staff who work behind the scenes and included ten members of staff from NHS Surrey Heartlands Integrated Care Board and local GP practices (photo included).
They joined other NHS staff from across the country (around 1,500 NHS staff in total), senior government and political leaders, health leaders and celebrities at the special service in London, to celebrate the NHS’ 75th birthday, which included an address by NHS Chief Executive, Amanda Pritchard.
Professor Claire Fuller, Chief Executive of Surrey Heartlands Health and Care Partnership and Surrey GP, commented:
As part of the national NHS 75 birthday celebrations, 35 members of staff from across Surrey’s NHS, which includes our local trusts, attended a special service at Westminster Abbey earlier today to represent Surrey Heartlands and their own organisations and be part of this special event.
Across Surrey Heartlands, as we celebrate this important milestone, and 75 years of the NHS, a real focus for us as a system is on recognising the incredible contribution made by our teams, day in, day out. Whether they are providing frontline care and support to our residents, or providing essential support behind the scenes, we should all be very proud of our workforce – and today is an opportunity to recognise and thank NHS staff for everything they do for our patients and their loved ones.
Jackie Moody, nurse, Chair of the Staff Partnership Forum and Head of Quality at NHS Surrey Heartlands, who was one of the attendees at the special Westminster Abbey service added:
It's a real privilege to be representing Surrey Heartlands at today’s Abbey service and I know my colleagues all feel the same. It was great to join other NHS colleagues from up and down the country for what was a moving and uplifting service - a great reminder of what the NHS stands for and the special place it holds in all our hearts.
To mark the landmark birthday, this week NHS Surrey Heartlands held its own NHS 75 staff awards and earlier today, on the birthday itself, at our Board meeting in public members reflected on how far the NHS has come since 1948 and looked ahead to the future.
NHS organisations across Surrey are also holding their own celebrations and events and, to mark the occasion, Surrey Heartlands has also launched a fun activity puzzle sheet for children, which can be downloaded from our website.