Celebrating over 700 years of loyal service

Staff who have dedicated most of their careers to working for Guy’s and St Thomas’ were honoured at the Trust's annual Long Service Awards.

Nearly 30 staff who have worked at the Trust for a minimum of 25 years collected awards from Chairman Sir Hugh Taylor during the celebratory event on Thursday 7 December. Between them they have clocked up more than 700 years of loyal service at Guy’s and St Thomas’.

Both clinical and non-clinical staff were recognised – from midwives, surgeons, pharmacists and specialist nurses to medical secretaries, dietitians, accountants and fire safety officers.

Tina Hemblade has been at Guy’s and St Thomas’ for 34 years. She completed her training at the Trust to become a Nightingale Nurse. Since then she progressed to ward sister, a clinical nurse specialist for systemic lupus and is currently a matron for the outpatient department.

Tina said: “The roles for nurses have expanded enormously in the time I’ve been here – there is so much choice now for a young nurse. When I was young my ambition was to become a ward sister so I was very proud when I did, knowing that it was my responsibility to make sure patients received good care.

“Working at the Trust has given me many new and exciting opportunities to progress my career – I’ve been constantly learning throughout my time here. St Thomas’ was my local hospital as a child so I was always proud to work here and it’s a Trust you can be proud to be a part of. All of us – clinical and non-clinical staff – work together to achieve good patient care.”

Lynette Noble has worked as a medical secretary at the Trust since 1984, mainly for the genetics department. She said: “I find medicine fascinating – I couldn’t train to be a doctor so this was the nearest I could get to working in medicine. I have worked with wonderful people who have invited me into their world.

“My role involves helping patients, which is a nice feeling. You can’t work in a hospital and not come across patients going through an upsetting time but it’s very rewarding to make their journeys easier.

“The years at Guy’s and St Thomas’ have flown by. I never expected to be here so long but now I can’t see myself wanting to do anything else.”

Terry Prescott completed his practical nursing training at the Trust in 1987 and became a staff nurse in 1991. He joined the nursing team in the intensive care unit (ICU) in 1994 and has remained in critical care ever since, now working as a charge nurse in the Trust’s three critical care units. As part of his role he plans the rota for 350 nursing staff who rotate between the units.

Terry said: “While technology has moved on a lot, some parts of the job have not changed at all. Looking after patients and their families is our focus and I like meeting them and getting patients on the mend. There is good scope for progression here and I have a whole team of staff now.

“It was really nice to be recognised for my hard work at the event. I think I’ll be here until I retire!”

Speaking at the awards, Sir Hugh Taylor said: “This is our opportunity to thank staff who have achieved such long service for the Trust. That great core of experience, expertise and commitment is one of the things that makes this such a fantastic place to work.

“It is a celebration of the huge diversity of things that people do across the organisation. We have representatives from radiography, scientists, consultants, nurses and midwives, managers, and people from finance.

“The whole fabric of the Trust is represented and reminds us that we all depend on each other.”

Chief Executive Amanda Pritchard added: “It’s genuinely a humbling thing to be part of an organisation that can celebrate so much talent and so much commitment.”