Among those honoured for their long service event at the Principal Hotel on June 5 were paediatric diabetes specialist nurse Diane Mitchell, who started work for the NHS in 1984, and clinical physiologist Joanne Horrocks, who has also clocked up 40 years with the NHS.
Commenting on her years of service, Diane said: “I can’t believe I have been nursing 40 years! I remember my first day as though it was yesterday.”
Diane said that, since she started work in the 1980s, there had been some real advancements in technology which had made the quality of life much better for patients.
“I have met some lovely people along the way,” she said. “I enjoy being able to support patients, families, and carers. It gives me a feeling of achievement as diabetes is very frustrating and can be exhausting.”
Long-serving York Hospitals Trust staff enjoying being wines and dined at the Principal Hotel in York (Image: York Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust)
Joanne, a specialist clinical physiologist in neurophysiology, agreed with Diane that there had been a ‘massive change’ in the equipment and technology used to analyse and diagnose conditions since she joined the NHS more than 40 years ago.
She said what she enjoyed about working for the NHS was the chance to make people’s lives better.
“I love the contact that I have with patients, knowing I’m helping them get a prompt diagnosis so they can start treatment,” she said.
York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust chief executive Simon Morritt said that this year, more than 120 members of staff from York and the surrounding areas had reached long service milestones of 25 or 40 years of service.
Between them they had clocked up more than 1,670 years of service to the NHS, he said.
Describing them as the ‘glue’ of the NHS, he said the long service dinner was about celebrating the ‘service, commitment and skills of staff who’ve shown their loyalty to the Trust over many years’.
“The fact that so many stay with us through thick and thin and give their lives to the patients we care for, makes for a very special place to work,” he said.
“Long service is a real cause for celebration. It speaks volumes about staff’s personal values, in that so many have chosen to stay for so long with the Trust, and to inspire newer colleagues to thrive.”
NHS staff were ‘notoriously modest’, he added.
“One of the most common phrases I hear when I’m out and about is: ‘I’m just doing my job’. “They may have ‘just been doing their job’, but many undoubtedly made a huge difference to countless patients and colleagues.”
Another long service event will take place later this month at The Crown Hotel, Scarborough, for staff based on the east coast and surrounding areas.
