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SPECIAL REPORT: The people bringing a smile to our hospital patients




Former nurse Margaret Crampton with a photo album and cuttings from our sister paper the Lincolnshire Free Press of March 7, 1950 detailing her meeting with Princess Elizabeth. (2510297)
Former nurse Margaret Crampton with a photo album and cuttings from our sister paper the Lincolnshire Free Press of March 7, 1950 detailing her meeting with Princess Elizabeth. (2510297)

When Margaret Crampton was a young nurse in Spalding in the 1950s, Princess Elizabeth was yet to be crowned Queen and immunisations against smallpox were still being administered.

“It was an extremely interesting time,” she said, now aged 90.

“We did not have the technologies of today. I think it was more personal in the general treatment of patients.”

Margaret worked for the Church Street Surgery in Spalding as it was known then.

And as a representative for the student nurses’ council for the Royal College of Nursing she met the future Queen Elizabeth while working in Derby as a trainee.

This was a moment she is incredibly proud of and the photo was on display on the stall to mark the 70th year anniversary of the NHS at the Friends of Johnson Community Hospital summer fair in Pinchbeck.

President of the Friends of Johnson Community Hospital Angela Newton with the trolley that provides essentials such as toiletries, as well as a smile and a chat, for patients. (2510295)
President of the Friends of Johnson Community Hospital Angela Newton with the trolley that provides essentials such as toiletries, as well as a smile and a chat, for patients. (2510295)

Ruth Hunter, who was also on the stall, recalled her memories as a student nurse in 1958-61 while in Huddersfield.

“Student nurses were not allowed to be married,” she said. “I remember the first time that one of the ward sisters got married, we thought this a very forward step.

“Until then, all the sisters had been unmarried; several of them having lost boyfriends in the war.”

Our NHS, while it doesn’t always get a favourable press, is still an incredible institution in this country.

As well as marking the 70th year of the NHS, the summer fair at the Johnson Community Hospital on Spalding Road, Pinchbeck, was just one of the fundraisers of the ‘Friends’.

The charity, previously known as The League of Friends of Spalding Hospitals, was formed 60 years ago by a group of ladies headed by Nellie Fowler and a local bank manager.

Margaret Crampton (centre) meets Princess Elizabeth in 1950.
Margaret Crampton (centre) meets Princess Elizabeth in 1950.

Current president, and South Holland District Councillor Angela Newton, says she likes to think she was very active during public consultations in the need to keep a hospital to serve Spalding.

And the Friends played a big part in keeping the name of ‘Johnson’ for the new hospital, which opened in 2009.

Today, it provides services including a minor injuries unit, outpatient and inpatient beds, an x-ray department and ambulance station.

“It was an extremely interesting time. We did not have the technologies of today. I think it was more personal in the general treatment of patients.”

The Friends provide a trolley service to hospital patients, with toiletries and confectionery etc, giving a friendly smile and stopping for a chat.

At Christmas, the patients receive a gift and Santa pays a visit; and mums get flowers on Mothering Sunday.

The Friends have also fundraised for equipment such as scanners, scales and more with the help of local people that the NHS budget cannot always stretch to.

Angela said: “Our position is we try to make it more comfortable for patients and staff, such as equipment to help the staff move patients safely.

“We have bought things that the NHS ought to or have not been able to.”

The Friends are now supporting the development of a comfort room in the outpatients department and a small kitchen area for patients following minor surgery in the day clinics.

Thank you to all who contributed with their memories of their time in the NHS and as part of the Friends of Johnson Hospital.

SEE ALSO:

Friends of Johnson Hospital keep on giving at their annual fair

Two NHS dentists on the way to Spalding



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