On Wednesday, July 5, 2023, the National Health Service celebrated its 75th anniversary of incredible service.
Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust is one of the largest and busiest NHS Trusts in the UK, with over 22,000 NHS staff caring for over a million patients every year. To mark the occasion, Leeds Hospitals Charity has collaborated with Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust to capture ’75 Faces of the NHS’ across the hospital sites in Leeds. This campaign celebrates the incredible work and commitment of all our NHS colleagues who work tirelessly across a range of roles and specialities, to provide the best care to patients every day.
Every day until 5th July, a ‘Face of the NHS’ has been/is being released on social media in celebration of this landmark anniversary. The campaign brings together a range of staff and specialties, showcasing staff members with over 30 years of services and others just starting their NHS careers. From doctors, to nurses, midwives, housekeepers, and everyone in between.
One of the NHS heroes featured in the campaign is Nick Marston. Nick is an Associate Practitioner in the Cardio-respiratory Clinical Service Unit (CSU) and has worked for the NHS for 19 years. Nick said:
“I’m forever grateful to be part of the NHS family that saved my life.”
Thanks to donations, Leeds Hospitals Charity provides an average of £6.6 million in additional funding to support projects that make a real difference to staff, patients and families across our hospitals in Leeds. The campaign also highlights staff whose roles are funded by Leeds Hospitals Charity, like Lucy Dove.
Lucy is a Virtual Reality Health Play Specialist working at Leeds Children’s Hospital and has worked for the NHS for five years. Lucy uses both play and virtual reality to support children and young people through many different procedures, creating a positive hospital experience. We asked Lucy what makes her proud to work for the NHS she said:
“I am proud to work for the NHS because it allows me to provide patient-centred care and make a difference to individuals on a daily basis.”
Esther Wakeman, Chief Executive of Leeds Hospitals Charity said:
“The staff across Leeds Teaching Hospitals provide exceptional care every day to thousands of patients and their families, ensuring the best patient outcomes. Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust provide world leading medical treatment, being one of the largest providers of specialist hospital services in the country. The remarkable research that is worked on here in Leeds, enables us to be able to offer patients the latest research and drug trails, as well as new treatments.
“Leeds Hospitals Charity is so proud that over the last 6 years we have been able to provide over £50 million to fund grants to enhance the patient experience and support the incredible research and care that is provided every day in Leeds. We hope this campaign shines a spotlight on some of the wonderful, dedicated staff we have across the Trust and celebrate 75 years of the NHS.”
Professor Phil Wood, Chief Executive of Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust said:
“The 75th anniversary of the NHS is a milestone of which we can all be proud. Our Trust provides the very best patient-centred care, and this would not be possible without the tremendous efforts of our staff. The diversity of staff and breadth of roles that our Trust encompasses is vast and the 75 we have introduced in this ’75 Faces’ campaign is just the tip of the iceberg.
“Nevertheless, this is a glimpse at the people behind the NHS in Leeds and some of the roles that make up healthcare today. Some of these roles existed 75 years ago, and some very much tell the story of how healthcare has advanced and developed to fit the needs of our community in 2023.”
Leeds Teaching Hospitals is one of the largest hospitals trusts in the country. Every year the Trust provides healthcare and specialist services for people from the city of Leeds, Yorkshire and the Humber and beyond. We play an important role in the training and education of medical, nursing and dental students, and are a centre of world-class research and pioneering new treatments.
Leeds Teaching Hospitals has a budget of £1.6 billion and employs around 22,000 people. Our care and clinical expertise is delivered from seven hospitals on five sites, and they are all joined by our vision to be the best for specialist and integrated care.
Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust is an NHS hospital trust in Leeds www.leedsth.nhs.uk
