I trained at The Royal hospital of St Bartholomew which is situated in Smithfield in the City of London. The hospital is often just referred to as Barts. When I started training it had general medical and surgical ward, obstetrics and gynaecology, children's wards and the specialist wards cardiac surgery, Ear nose and throat, Ophthalmology and Neurosurgery. However a lot of our patients were being treated for cancer, especially the rarer types. It wasn't until I left the hospital that I realised what a specialist training I had received and that most doctors and nurses over their career would not see any patients with some conditions that I had seen.
Many of the buildings were old, except the new block which housed the specialist wards.
This is the King Henry VIII Gate at Barts which was completed in 1702 The picture is courtesy of Wikipedia as I don't have a photo of it. You can read more of the history of Barts here.
The hospital is built round a square and during the summer we would wheel our orthopaedic patients who were on skeletal traction out into the square to enjoy the weather. The fountain pond used to have goldfish in it but when I visited last weekend there were no fish. Now the square is pedestrianised and so much nicer for patients and visitors.
Inside the buildings the ward were all traditional open plan nightingale style wards. They are great to work in as you can see all the patients but not so good for patient privacy The hospital has changed dramatically since I left and on Saturday walking into the George V block I found a whole new world. The front of the building looked the same but inside this is what I found.
Good gracious were had the long narrow corridors with the dim lighting gone. I had gone with a small group of my set to see the place and we were too amazed to hunt out the wards and see what they looked like. After 45 years you need to preserve your memories. The hospital was old style but the training was excellent and we had such fond memories of our time there. We decided that we liked the new hospital but we wouldn't investigate further as we'd rather hang onto our memories.
As I said earlier there were 45 of us who started training together and 30 of us attended the reunion. Some people were very difficult to recognise but other didn't seem to have changed at all. Here's a picture taken on 21st August 2017, the day we started training.
and here are 30 of us 45 years later! I'm 5th from the left on the top row in the photo above. Don't you just love the old style nurses uniforms. I'm the one on the left with the blue jumper and very little hair in the photo below. My hair is growing quite quickly and now I've finished treatment I really must get back to losing weight and toning the tummy!
Miranda was taking the photos so here is one of her.
The day was great fun and we plan to meet in 5 years time to celebrate 50 years. By then I think we will all have decided to stop working. The day was a great success and the food was delicious and there was plenty of wine. Thank goodness for the London underground which meant I didn't have to drive so I could enjoy a drink.
Lyndsey
The hospital is built round a square and during the summer we would wheel our orthopaedic patients who were on skeletal traction out into the square to enjoy the weather. The fountain pond used to have goldfish in it but when I visited last weekend there were no fish. Now the square is pedestrianised and so much nicer for patients and visitors.
Inside the buildings the ward were all traditional open plan nightingale style wards. They are great to work in as you can see all the patients but not so good for patient privacy The hospital has changed dramatically since I left and on Saturday walking into the George V block I found a whole new world. The front of the building looked the same but inside this is what I found.
Good gracious were had the long narrow corridors with the dim lighting gone. I had gone with a small group of my set to see the place and we were too amazed to hunt out the wards and see what they looked like. After 45 years you need to preserve your memories. The hospital was old style but the training was excellent and we had such fond memories of our time there. We decided that we liked the new hospital but we wouldn't investigate further as we'd rather hang onto our memories.
As I said earlier there were 45 of us who started training together and 30 of us attended the reunion. Some people were very difficult to recognise but other didn't seem to have changed at all. Here's a picture taken on 21st August 2017, the day we started training.
and here are 30 of us 45 years later! I'm 5th from the left on the top row in the photo above. Don't you just love the old style nurses uniforms. I'm the one on the left with the blue jumper and very little hair in the photo below. My hair is growing quite quickly and now I've finished treatment I really must get back to losing weight and toning the tummy!
Miranda was taking the photos so here is one of her.
The day was great fun and we plan to meet in 5 years time to celebrate 50 years. By then I think we will all have decided to stop working. The day was a great success and the food was delicious and there was plenty of wine. Thank goodness for the London underground which meant I didn't have to drive so I could enjoy a drink.
Lyndsey
How nice that so many of your training buddies got together for the reunion. You all must have enjoyed meeting up again. Hair or not - you look great!
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful reunion. I can recall attending such a reunion with my mother, who was a nurse. She attended her nursing school reunion (St. Alphonses in Boise, Idaho), and also her high school reunion. She enjoyed the nursing school reunion most.
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun post loved seeing the hospital and your early nursing photo. Sounds like you had a great time. And by the way you look fantastic!!
ReplyDeleteThis is just fantastic!! What a wonderful reunion. Thanks for sharing your celebration with us!
ReplyDeleteHmm, the date is wrong for the old photo, I think it belongs with the more recent photo. (You said you started training in 1972) I feel like never going back to my old University, it has changed so much. I'd rather remember it as it was - I understand why you didn't feel like hunting through the halls to see if the old wards were there.....
ReplyDeleteHI
ReplyDeleteI just read your blog about nurses training in London. I am a nurse, trained in Canada and graduated in 1960. I trained at the Royal University Hospital in Saskatoon Saskatchewan Canada. We just had our 57th anniversary. We used to meet every 5 years but as we are getting older (???) we have been meeting every 2-3 years. We had 42 in our class and there were 30 at this last meeting. We are looking foreward to celebrating out 60th in 3 years. Distances are very long in Canada and some of our classmates travel several 1000 miles to meet. However there is nothing like the fellowship of 3 years together in residence and the joys and sorrows of nurses training.
HI
ReplyDeleteI just read your blog about nurses training in London. I am a nurse, trained in Canada and graduated in 1960. I trained at the Royal University Hospital in Saskatoon Saskatchewan Canada. We just had our 57th anniversary. We used to meet every 5 years but as we are getting older (???) we have been meeting every 2-3 years. We had 42 in our class and there were 30 at this last meeting. We are looking foreward to celebrating out 60th in 3 years. Distances are very long in Canada and some of our classmates travel several 1000 miles to meet. However there is nothing like the fellowship of 3 years together in residence and the joys and sorrows of nurses training.