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On 5 July 1948, for the first time anywhere in the world, healthcare in Britain became free for all. Sally Sheard reveals the characters, innovations and heroic standoffs that have shaped our NHS.

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Coronavirus: Four nurses on four continents tell their story. May, 2020

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With more than four million reported cases worldwide, the coronavirus pandemic has brought the work done by nurses into the spotlight.

To mark International Nurses Day, the BBC spoke to nurses working on four different continents, to learn about the challenges they face in the battle against Covid-19.

Nursing day is celebrated on 12 May, the birthday of Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing.

"At first my family weren't comfortable with me joining the fight against Covid-19. But when they saw the pictures of my protective gear they understood that I am protected enough," says Mzwakhe Mohlaloganye.

Mzwakhe, a 37-year-old father-of-two, has been a nurse for five years and has been part of the mobile Covid-19 team in Johannesburg for two months.

South Africa has done an exceptional job at "flattening the curve" and many people say that community testing and awareness is a big part of that.

The team screens and tests people in the local community, prioritising those over the age of 59 and those with chronic medical conditions.

Mzwakhe has found the role rewarding, seeing it as an opportunity to learn about the disease and how it connects with the different kinds of conditions in his patients.

However, his family were initially reticent about his new role and were concerned about his welfare.

"Mum told me she feels grateful to have a son like me - one of the people who are out there fighting for them."

Reflecting on the efforts made by his team on the frontline and his work as a nurse, Mzwakhe feels he plays an important role, not just helping to raise awareness but helping to save communities.

"It makes me feel like a superhero because I feel like I am a lifesaver in my country."

He also feels that nurses are appreciated now more than ever.

"For nurses all over the world my message is don't give up. You must do whatever you can to help contain the virus. Never feel like a failure."

It became a symbol of a country overwhelmed: a photo of an exhausted nurse in her facemask slumped asleep over her computer. Italy had been struck by the virus - the first western country to be hit so badly - and the picture of Elena Pagliarini encapsulated the devastation it was wreaking.

"It was such a dramatic situation", Elena told the BBC, "some patients were dying in front of me. We worked all night. At 6am, I stopped and rested briefly on the desk and a doctor took this picture. It was an angst-ridden moment."

She says she hadn't realised the importance of the photo until she was contacted by journalists and people she didn't know.

"I realised the picture became bigger than just the moment it captured. It was moving but also unsettling."

By mid-March, when hospitals in northern Italy were at bursting point and hundreds were dying each day, Elena herself became infected, losing her sense of smell and taste. She stayed at home for 23 days and returned to work on 2 April, as Italy reached the peak of the outbreak.

Since then, infections have fallen dramatically and intensive care occupancy has dropped to a manageable level. Italy has started to ease its lockdown - the world's longest. "We're now in phase two", Elena says, "we still have cases coming in but the symptoms are lighter: sore throat, dehydration, strong headaches - but it's not an emergency situation."

At least 160 health workers have died in Italy. The country's medics - as everywhere - are seen as the heroes of this battle.

"I'm proud of my work", says Elena. "That photo shows just me but it should represent all nurses and doctors."

Gabriela Serrano, a nurse working in the US, has fond memories of the day she saw her first Covid-19 patient discharged.

"She was so happy when I wheeled her out of the hospital. She said: 'It is so good to see the sun shine and breathe fresh air'".

Gabriela has been a nurse for seven years. During the pandemic she worked in a hospital on the outskirts of San Francisco.

"The two Covid-19 patients I was taking care of had underlying health conditions and were above 70. Yet they managed to survive. This gives me hope."

Gabriela, 31, has seen three non-coronavirus deaths in the past two months. She described how she had cared for a dying woman.

"She was a bit responsive on the first day but was non-verbal. l explained everything I was doing to her, even though she wasn't able to talk back to me."

The next day, the patient was not even opening her eyes.

The hospital authorised a visit from relatives during the patient's final hours. Unfortunately, she had no close family and her best friend opted to stay away from the hospital.

"I sat with her, held her hand and just told her it was going to be okay. I was there. She had someone with her," says Gabriela.

"I don't know if she could hear me at that point, but it was the best I could do for her."

Her hard work didn't save her job. She is a travel nurse, as they call those working on short-term contracts. General patient admissions are down, as people fear contracting the virus and many stay away from hospitals for all non-emergency treatment, so the hospital she was working at decided to terminate her employment.

"I'm pretty optimistic about getting a job within a month. I'll take what I can get."

"On 24 March we had our first Covid-19 positive case. Immediately I thought about two tribal patients in my hospital. I asked them to leave," says Shanti Teresa lakra.

Shanti has made a name for herself providing health services for the rapidly declining tribal groups of India's Andaman and Nicobar islands and is a recipient of the Florence Nightingale award, the highest professional recognition for nurses in India.

She was taking care of a five-year-old boy from the Jarawa tribe affected by pneumonia, as well as a woman from the Shompen tribe seeking fertility treatment.

Jarawas made contact with the outside world only in 1997. The naked hunter-gatherers live in a forest reserve about 80km (50m) from Port Blair, where Shanti now works.

A week after the boy was discharged, she went to the forest area to check on him.

"He had fully recovered. Since I can speak a bit of their language, I told them to move deep into the jungle and stay there."

Isolation served as a shield for these aboriginal groups for thousands of years, but expanding settlements over the past century have decimated their population. Shanti says there are currently some 450 members of the Jarawa tribe.

"Their immunity is low. A single infected person can threaten the whole population."

Reporting by Swaminathan Natarajan, Mark Lowen and Christian Parkinson

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Coronavirus: Four nurses on four continents tell their story

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With more than four million reported cases worldwide, the coronavirus pandemic has brought the work done by nurses into the spotlight. To mark International Nurses Day, the BBC spoke to nurses working on four different continents, to learn about the challenges they face in the battle against Covid-19.

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This post is a list of medical museums in London.

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This post is a list of medical museums in London. Some of them are free while others have an entry cost. Several of the ticketed museums are included for free in tourist passes.

FREE MEDICAL MUSEUMS IN LONDON

If you're curious about modern medicine and healthcare, the 16 museums listed below may be of interest.

These all focus on science and medical breakthroughs as well as honoring pioneers in the field.

The best thing about the museums in this section is that they're free! We have a post on free museums in London.

Also, read our post on free things to do in London for more budget-friendly ideas.

Royal London Hospital Museum

They are located in a former church crypt and have exhibits dedicated to antique instruments and the Elephant Man Joseph Merrick.

Anaesthesia Heritage Centre

Note: Call ahead of your visit to double check hours.

You can explore the library and exhibits that combine medicine and art.

British Dental Association Museum

See how the dental profession has changed from the 17th century to now.

Bethlem Royal Hospital Museum of the Mind

The museum is held within the first UK institution to exclusively care for mentally ill patients.

British Optical Association Museum

Take a look at artifacts from Optometrists throughout the ages at the world's oldest optical museum.

Note: You must make a reservation to visit this museum.

Museum of the Order of St. John

There is a children's activity trail to follow for younger visitors that put the exhibits in chronological order.

Royal Pharmaceutical Society Museum

Brand name medicines have documentation back to the 1700s.

St. Bartholomew's Hospital Museum

If you're interested in the history of organized hospitals, check out St. Bartholomew's Hospital.

Barts Pathology Museum

Barts Pathology Museum is located in St. Bartholomew's and is still occasionally used to teach medical residents in the hospital. This museum holds specimens of body parts and bacteria cultures.

Note: The Pathology Museum is only open during specific events.

British Red Cross Museum & Archives

How did the British Red Cross organization start? How did it expand during World War I?

In this museum, you can find records from war volunteers, historic Red Cross-themed toys, and other medical artifacts.

You must Note: make a reservation to see this museum.

Langdon Down Museum of Learning Disability

This museum brings attention to how common learning disabilities are and displays the ways society has treated them.

The museum is in the former home of a Victorian physician, Dr. John Langdon Down, who took a compassionate and educated approach to care for patients with learning disabilities.

Royal College of Nursing Library & Heritage Centre

The Royal College of Nursing is home to Europe's biggest collection of artifacts from the nursing occupation over the last 200 years.

Discover how the profession evolved and became regulated so that patients had better and safer experiences.

Note: You must make an appointment to see the collection.

Royal Society of Medicine

The library hosts a constantly rotating selection of exhibits on people, organizations, and diseases.

Note: The exhibits are free but you must download a ticket from the website to enter.

Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists Museum

This museum is focused completely on the history and development of women's healthcare.

From original Chamberlen forceps to rare books and paintings, you can learn a lot about how women's health has evolved over the centuries.

MUSEUMS WITH AN ENTRY FEE

From laboratories to education, here is the list of medical museums throughout London that have an entry fee to enter.

Alexander Fleming Laboratory Museum

Adults £6.50 - £11 depending on the season

Concessions £4.50 - £7.50 depending on the season

Family Ticket £24.15 - £35.70 depending on the season

Florence Nightingale Museum

Florence Nightingale is the most famous nurse in the world and was responsible for changing the way nurses were trained and teaching healthcare professionals about the importance of hygiene. The museum celebrates her life and achievements.

Sigmund Freud's home is now the location of the Freud Museum. Here you can learn about Freud's life, the history of psychoanalysis, and how his youngest daughter also contributed to the field.

Old Operating Theatre Museum

Take a look at Europe's oldest surgical theatre, which was in use before anesthesia and hygiene protocols. It truly was like a theatre, with plenty of seating options available for onlookers.

INCLUDED IN TOURIST PASSES

The museums listed here have an entry fee but are also included in tourist passes for free. Additionally, these passes also include other museums in London.

OTHER THINGS TO DO IN LONDON

Our suggestions for other things to do in London:

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This post is a list of medical museums in London. Some of them are free while others have an entry cost. Several of the ticketed museums are included for free in tourist passes. Free Museums Those with Paid Entry Free with a Tourist Discount Pass Things to Do in London FREE MEDICAL MUSEUMS...

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The Spanish flu: the biggest pandemic in modern history

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International Year of the Nurse and Midwife 2020 

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International Year of the Nurse and Midwife 2020 

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This is our time: 2020 is the Year of the Nurse and Midwife.2020 is Florence Nightingale’s bicentennial year, designated by World Health Organisation as the first ever global Year of the Nurse and Midwife. Nurses and midwives make up the largest numbers of the NHS workforce. They are highly skilled, multi-faceted professionals from a host of backgrounds that represent our diverse communities. 2020 is our time to reflect on these skills, the commitment and expert clinical care they bring, and the impact they make on the lives of so many. This year is also an opportunity to say thank you to the professions; to showcase their diverse talents and expertise; and to promote nursing and midwifery as careers with a great deal to offer.

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"In 2020, the spotlight is on us: nurses and midwives are being celebrated not just in England but across the globe. This is the chance to highlight our vast and varied skills and the work we do, and to ensure our professional voice is heard and represented at the heart of all health and care decisions and policy."
Ruth May, Chief Nursing Officer for England

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NHS England " International year of the Nurse and Midwife 2020

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"In 2020, the spotlight is on us: nurses and midwives are being celebrated not just in England but across the globe. This is the chance to highlight our vast and varied skills and the work we do, and to ensure our professional voice is heard and represented at the heart of all health and care decisions and policy."

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Royal College of Nursing: Myths of Nursing

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Royal College of Nursing: Myths of Nursing

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History has shaped the way we view nursing today

Many of us are familiar with Charles Dickens' sloppy Sarah Gamp, Hattie Jacques' no-nonsense matron in the Carry On films, or even the sexy nurse fancy dress costume still popular today. Nursing stereotypes are wide spread and varied.

Bad press around drunken, slovenly nursing in the nineteenth century prompted efforts to clean up the profession. Florence Nightingale forged a very different image of order, professionalism and discipline.

Following two World Wars and big shifts in nursing roles and responsibilities, the profession today is incredibly diverse.

Two hundred years on from Nightingale's birth, we're facing new challenges. What has the COVID-19 pandemic taught us about how we value nurses? How do these historical stereotypes continue to shape views of the profession?

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The many-faced myths of nursing | Royal College of Nursing

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Many of us are familiar with Charles Dickens' sloppy Sarah Gamp, Hattie Jacques' no-nonsense matron in the Carry On films, or even the sexy nurse fancy dress costume still popular today. Nursing stereotypes are wide spread and varied. Bad press around drunken, slovenly nursing in the nineteenth century prompted efforts to clean up the profession.

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Pioneers of Nursing

Founder of the modern nursing profession

Battlefield nurse. Founder of the American Red Cross.

Founded the Frontier Nursing Service--bringing midwifery and infant health care to rural areas.

Early nursing pioneer who revolutionized health care for the mentally ill.

Promoted nursing as a respectable profession, shifted the model of nursing education from a one-year apprenticeship to a three-year academic pursuit, created nurse-run hospital wards, cut the work day to 8-hour shifts, wrote the first standardized textbook for nursing education, established an early visiting nurses association and created one of the first professional nursing libraries.

Pioneer in nursing autonomy and nurse-driven care.

Pioneer in improving the care of dying patients by managing symptoms, including patient and family in all decisions, and maintaining dignity and the highest quality of life as the developmental task of saying good-bye was addressed.

Also see:

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Pioneers of Nursing Founder of the modern nursing profession Battlefield nurse. Founder of the American Red Cross. Founded the Frontier Nursing Service--bringing midwifery and infant health care to rural areas. Early nursing pioneer who revolutionized health care for the mentally ill.

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There are so many ways to work in nursing and midwifery in 2020. We’ll be gathering people stories across the year, to show as wide a cross section of England’s nurses and midwives as we can. Please share yours here, and please spread the word by asking other nurses and midwives  that you meet to do the same.

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There are so many ways to work in nursing and midwifery in 2020. We'll be gathering people stories across the year, to show as wide a cross section of England's nurses and midwives as we can. Please share yours here, and please spread the word by asking other nurses and midwives that you meet to do the same.
" Download a template to share your story
Our nursing and midwifery people

These profiles put a face to the myriad specialties, regions and locations it's possible to work in, as a nurse or midwife in 2020.

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There are so many ways to work in nursing and midwifery in 2020. We'll be gathering people stories across the year, to show as wide a cross section of England's nurses and midwives as we can. Please share yours here, and please spread the word by asking other nurses and midwives that you meet to do the same.

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The Curator's Tour of Medicine: The Wellcome Galleries at The Science Museum

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Coronavirus: Portraits of NHS frontline 'heroes'

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Coronavirus: Portraits of NHS frontline 'heroes'

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BBC

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An artist from York has been painting portraits of NHS frontline workers for free.

Karen Winship said she was inspired by artist Tom Croft, who started a campaign giving away free portraits to key workers around the world.

She said it had been "very emotional" painting the portraits and has completed nine so far.

"Just their back stories of what they're going through are emotional and difficult," she said.

"My eldest daughter works for the NHS, she's an occupational therapist at York Hospital, and I just wanted to do something."

Ms Winship said the most poignant portrait had been that of nurse Rachel, who works at Blackpool Victoria Hospital and had asked her parents to look after her four young children when she fell ill with Covid-19.

"It's the sadness in their eyes, it's very moving.

"I felt a real sense of community even though I don't know them - apart from my daughter - and haven't met them in my life."

The artist said she would be giving away the original portraits to the muses for free and is hoping to display prints in an exhibition in the future.

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An artist from York has been painting portraits of NHS frontline workers for free. Karen Winship said she was inspired by artist Tom Croft, who started a campaign giving away free portraits to key workers around the world. She said it had been "very emotional" painting the portraits and has completed nine so far.

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Navigate this wonderful gallery using a virtual platform on thier websites. The have a section for Medical Professionals but there is so much more including Potraits supported by HRH Duchess of Cambridge

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Pintrest

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Dec 12, 2012 - Explore Melody Myers's board "Medical Curiosities ", followed by 4555 people on Pinterest. See more ideas about Medical curiosities, Medical, Medical oddities.

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America’s finest museum of medical history, the Mütter Museum displays its beautifully preserved collections of anatomical specimens, models, and medical instruments in a 19th-century “cabinet museum” setting. The museum helps the public understand the mysteries and beauty of the human body and to appreciate the history of diagnosis and treatment of disease.

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Drawing Anatomical Anomalies Spring 2016

This exhibition is the work of students from our third iteration of our Drawing Anatomical Anomalies course.

Learn More About this Exhibit

Memento Mütter

Memento Mütter is an online exhibit that allows you to get uncomfortably close to the Mütter Museum in the comfort of your own home. The name for the exhibit comes from the Latin memento mori - "remember that you shall die."

Learn More About this Exhibit

Civil War Lesson Plans

Explore our Civil War lessons.

Learn More About this Exhibit

Healing Energy: Radium in America

In 1921 Marie Curie came to The College of Physicians to present a gift. Find out what is was and how she and other important scientists discovered new forms of energy at the turn of the 20th century in our new exhibit.

To launch this online exhibition, click HERE!

Learn More About this Exhibit

Under the Influence of the Heavens: Astrology in Medicine in the 15th and 16th Centuries

Before the ideas of Scientific Revolution began to emerge in the mid-16th century, a wholly different view of the natural world dominated the psyche of Western Europe.

To launch this online exhibition, click HERE!

Learn More About this Exhibit

History of Vaccines

The History of Vaccines is the College's award-winning website that provides in-depth information on the development, use, and delivery of vaccines within a historical context. Much of the content is taken from the collections of the Mütter Museum and the Historical Medical Library.

Learn More About this Exhibit

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This exhibition is the work of students from our third iteration of our Drawing Anatomical Anomalies course. Learn More About this Exhibit Memento Mütter is an online exhibit that allows you to get uncomfortably close to the Mütter Museum in the comfort of your own home.

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25 Medical Oddities On Display At The Mütter Museum

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25 Medical Oddities On Display At The Mütter Museum

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The collection of Dr. Thomas Mütter begat this funhouse of morbid curiosity, and currently houses over 20,000 specimens of medical abnormalities.

Connoisseurs of the medical macabre have likely heard tales of the legendary Mütter Museum in Philadelphia, Pa. This world-renowned wonderland of weird is filled with anatomical oddities, pathological specimens, human curiosities, and vintage medical instruments.

Inside the creepy yet clinical Mütter Museum, skeletons of all shapes and sizes reside - as well as President Grover Cleveland's jaw tumor, deformed babies in jars, and preserved organs of all kinds. While its contents may resemble a mad scientist's funhouse, the museum's roots actually pay tribute to one of the most humane, respected, and talented surgeons in history.

Dr. Thomas Dent Mütter

Dr. Thomas Dent Mütter's unique empathy as a young surgeon garnered many loyal patients. The good doctor was inclined to help even the most hopeless of cases; those with drastic disfigurements that most people considered "monsters".

During his career, Mütter amassed a large collection of research materials, like medical oddities and anomalies. These are what first populated the museum upon its opening in 1863.

Inside The Mütter Museum

It started with 1,700 objects and the famed doctor's donation of $30,000. The museum has since grown to over 25,000 specimens.

There are both permanent and special exhibitions, including the Broken Bodies, Suffering Spirits: Injury, Death, and Healing in Civil War Philadelphia.

This exhibit explores war injuries: how to treat them and what it was like experience them. It comes complete with an interactive opportunity to see what it would be like to have an arm amputated.

Of all the exhibits in the Mütter Museum, the Broken Bodies, Suffering Spirits might be the most emotionally wrenching. It contains letters, surgical tools, and samples of weaponry designed to rip the human body to shreds.

Another popular exhibit at the Mütter Museum is Grimm's Anatomy: Magic and Medicine, that delves into the more disturbing side of the iconic fairy tales. For example, the exhibit explores how German brothers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm's version of Cinderella draws visceral parallels to the tradition of Chinese foot-binding.

"So many of the Grimms' fairy tales deal with the corporeal human body, whether dealing with sicknesses or a magical transformation or the various unpleasant things that can happen to the body," curator Anna Dhody tells The Metro West Daily News. "Quite often, there is no happily ever after."

The Mütter Museum is aware of its macabre draw but makes sure that its visitors walk away more educated than they came in. The Mütter Museum couldn't have said it better themselves on their website: "Are You Ready to Be Disturbingly Informed?"

After seeing some of the oddities of the Mütter Museum, check out these haunting photos of insane asylum patients from the 19th century, and then find out about 13 of PT Barnum's most famous sideshow oddities.

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This Museum Has A Necklace Of Genital Warts On Permanent Display

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Connoisseurs of the medical macabre have likely heard tales of the legendary Mütter Museum in Philadelphia, Pa. This world-renowned wonderland of weird is filled with anatomical oddities, pathological specimens, human curiosities, and vintage medical instruments.

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BLACK HISTORY

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She got herself out to the war by her own efforts and at her own expense; risked her life to bring comfort to the wounded and dying soldiers; and became the first black woman to make her mark on British public life. But while Florence Nightingale has gone down in history and become a legend, Mary Seacole was relegated to obscurity until recently.

Mary Seacole was born in Kingston, Jamaica in 1805. Her father was a Scottish soldier, and her mother was a practitioner of traditional Jamaican medicine and had a boarding house where she cared for invalid soldiers and their wives. Mary learned about medicine from her mother, soon gaining her own reputation as a 'skilful nurse and doctress'.

Mary travelled widely - there were two trips to Britain, and in 1851, she joined her brother Edward in Panama, where she opened a hotel. Soon she had saved her first cholera patient, and gained extensive knowledge of the pathology of this disease - which she herself contracted and recovered from. She was widely praised for her work in treating cholera, and returned to Jamaica in 1853, where there was a yellow fever epidemic.

The medical authorities came to her to provide nurses to care for the sick soldiers. She travelled again to London, where she heard about the Crimean war and how the nursing system there had collapsed. She mad applications to the War Office, the army medical department, and the secretary of war to be allowed to go to the Crimea and tend to the sick and wounded. She pointed out that she had extensive experience, excellent references and knew many of the soldiers and regiments, having nursed them while they were stationed in Jamaica.

But she was turned away by everybody, including one of Florence Nightingale's assistants. Was it possible, she asked herself, 'that American prejudices against colour had taken root here? Did these ladies shrink from accepting my aid because my blood flowed beneath a somewhat duskier skin than theirs?' in her disappointment, Mary cried in the street.

A distant relative of hers, called Day, was going to Balaclava on business, and they agreed to launch a firm called Seacole and Day, which would be a general store and hotel near the British camp in the Crimea. So, at the age of 50, with her large stock of medicines, Mary went to the battle zone as a sutler - a person who follows the army and sells provisions to the troops. The moment she arrived in Balaclava there were sick and wounded to attend to. She opened her British Hotel in the summer of 1855, near the besieged city of Sevastopol. Soon the entire British army knew of 'Mother Seacole's'. The soldiers were her sons and she was their mother.

Though some of the army doctors, despite her saving them a lot of work, regarded her as a 'quack', others were less bigoted. The assistant surgeon of the 90th Light Infantry watched with admiration as she, numb with cold would administer to the soldiers, giving them tea and food and words of comfort. She was often on the front line and frequently under fire.

It was W.H. Russell, the first modern war correspondent, who made Mary Seacole famous. He described her as 'a warm and successful physician, who doctors and cures all manner of men with extraordinary success. She is always in attendance near the battle field to aid the wounded, and has earned many a poor fellow's blessings'.

She was, as she had promised herself, the first woman to enter Sevastopol when it fell. But the end of the war left Seacole and Day with expensive and unsaleable stores on their hands. They went bankrupt, and Mary returned to England a financially ruined woman. The Times demanded how could anyone forget the amazing things that Mary had done, and praise only Florence Nightingale?

Lord Rokeby and Lord Paget, both Crimean commanders organised a benefit festival at the Royal Surrey Gardens in Kennington to raise money for Mary. There were over 1,000 performers, and her name was 'shouted by a thousand voices'. In 1857, Mary published her autobiography, an outstandingly vivid piece of writing called The Wonderful Adventures of Mrs Seacole in many lands which was prefaced by WH Russell: 'I trust that England will not forget one who nursed her sick, who sought out her wounded to aid and succour them, and who performed the last offices for some of her illustrious dead'.

England, of course did forget Mary Seacole. She was awarded a Crimean medal, and a bust was made of her by Prince Victor of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, sculptor and nephew of Queen Victoria. The last 25 years of her life, however, were spent in obscurity. When she died on 14th May 1881.

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She got herself out to the war by her own efforts and at her own expense; risked her life to bring comfort to the wounded and dying soldiers; and became the first black woman to make her mark on British public life.

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Mary helped sick and injured soldiers in many lands. Find out more with BBC Bitesize KS1 History.

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The bicentenary of Florence Nightingale's birth is being marked with two virtual exhibitions.

Both exhibitions, by Derby Museums and the University of Nottingham, have moved online due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Derby one includes an audio discussion of The Mission of Mercy, which is on loan from the National Portrait Gallery.

The Nottingham one includes a virtual tour of her family home in Derbyshire.

Both exhibitions explore her role as a founder of modern nursing, and her 200th birthday coincides with International Nurses Day.

Professor Paul Crawford, one of the people behind the Nottingham exhibition, is a registered nurse himself and has been inspired by her.

"You don't become a nurse without being aware of Florence Nightingale," he said.

"While I was training nurses here at hospitals in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire, I also met a colleague who was very interested in her Derbyshire roots and that began to make me realise her contribution.

"I think it's time more was made of her early life in Derbyshire, which is why we began work on the exhibition. The ethos of Nightingale and what she did is very relevant today."

Florence Nightingale came from a wealthy family who had a home at Lea Hurst near Matlock.

Tony Butler, executive director of Derby Museums, said she is an "inspirational figure of global importance".

"On this important anniversary we are proud to celebrate one of our best-known local heroines with our communities," he said.

"Although our museums are not yet open to the public, this specially-curated content will enable people to discover more about Florence from home until they can visit the exhibition in person when lockdown restrictions are lifted."

Follow BBC East Midlands on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Send your story ideas to eastmidsnews@bbc.co.uk.

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The bicentenary of Florence Nightingale's birth is being marked with two virtual exhibitions. Both exhibitions, by Derby Museums and the University of Nottingham, have moved online due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Derby one includes an audio discussion of The Mission of Mercy, which is on loan from the National Portrait Gallery.

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Florence Nightingale: Saving lives with statistics

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Florence Nightingale: Saving lives with statistics

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BBC

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Florence Nightingale: Saving lives with statistics

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Florence Nightingale was so much more than a lady with a lamp. Discover how she fought to improve civilian and army healthcare throughout her life.

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We support nurses and midwives to improve care and save lives Academy Explore the leadership development opportunities and support offered by FNF Find Out More Membership Join our inclusive community to support your teams to connect, learn, and influence Find Out More Support Us Help us to support nurses and midwives to improve care and [...]

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Website

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Welcome to edithcavell.org.uk, commemorating Edith Cavell, the World War I British nurse who is celebrated for saving the lives of soldiers in Brussels from all sides without distinction. She and Belgian and French colleagues helped over 200 Allied soldiers escape from German-occupied Belgium.

She was arrested, tried with 33 others by a German military court, found guilty of 'assisting men to the enemy' and shot by a German firing squad on October 12 1915.

This is one of the most extensive sites dedicated to Nurse Edith Cavell, and contains much exclusive material. Please explore the site using the menus at the top of each page.

Edith Cavell memorabilia archive

A grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund has allowed us to create a database of all the materials we hold in Swardeston on Edith Cavell. See this in due course here.

Comments, questions, or suggestions for the site? Do please contact us.

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Welcome to edithcavell.org.uk, commemorating Edith Cavell, the World War I British nurse who is celebrated for saving the lives of soldiers in Brussels from all sides without distinction. She and Belgian and French colleagues helped over 200 Allied soldiers escape from German-occupied Belgium. She was arrested, tried with 33 others by a German military court,...

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Mary Seacole Trust, Life, Work & Achievements of Mary Seacole

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INTRODUCING THE MARY SEACOLE & ME STORYTELLERS

The Mary Seacole Trust exists to educate and inform the public about the life, work and achievements of Mary Seacole, the 19th century Jamaican-born nurse who overcame racism and injustice to nurse soldiers during the Crimean War.

As a result of a nationwide appeal supported by thousands of individuals as well as the military and major corporations, a statue of Mary was unveiled at St Thomas' Hospital in London, opposite the Houses of Parliament, in June 2016

Our role is to maintain the statue for future generations. Already a major London landmark, it ensures that Mary, a mixed race woman of Scottish-Jamaican descent is never again lost to history as she was for over 100 years.

In addition, our major projects aim to promote Mary as a role model for today's young people, encouraging them to follow her example of good citizenship, entrepreneurship and achievement.

We also aim to build on Mary's legacy to promote fairness and equality, including diverse leadership in private and public services.

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Mary Seacole Trust, Life, Work & Achievements of Mary Seacole

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We promote Mary Seacole as a role model, in support of people committed to tackling social challenges or inequality. We encourage young people to follow her example of good citizenship & achievement.

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10 things you didn’t know about Edith Cavell, nurses & Mary Lindell

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10 things you didn’t know about Edith Cavell, nurses & Mary Lindell

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The History Press

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English nurse Edith Cavell has gone down in history for saving soldiers on both sides of the fence and helping some 200 Allied soldiers escape from German -occupied Belgium during World War I. On 12 October 1915, Edith was murdered by firing squad after being arrested and accused of treason. Peter Hore uncovers some little known facts about this heroine, nurses and Mary Lindell, who was inspired by Edith Cavell.

1. The nursing profession

The nursing profession was only a generation or two old when the First World War broke out. Until then nursing was dominated by nuns, who had little training, or by 'dressers' who often had no training. Britain led the way in proper training for nurses, and for many women nursing was their first taste of women's liberation. Edith Cavell became part of an international movement to improve the standards of nursing when she was recruited as matron of a nursing school at Ixelles in Brussels in 1907 - the same year that the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry was founded in Britain.

2. Age limit on nurses serving overseas

After 1914 there was a rapid increase in the demand for nurses, with the British and French Red Cross leading the way. But there were many other nursing movements including the Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD), which Mary Lindell joined. The age limit for service overseas was 23 years, but Mary wanted to do more and by going to France she was able to join the Société de Secours aux Blessés Militaires when only aged 19. Before she was 23, Mary was practising as an anaesthetist in a French field hospital close to the front line. She was in northern France when she heard of the murder of Edith Cavell.

3. Edith Cavell in the newspapers

At the start of the war, Edith had nursed Allied wounded, but when Belgium was overrun by the Germans she nursed Germans too. In defiance of German martial law, Edith began to shelter wounded British and French soldiers who had evaded capture, and young Belgians of military age. She joined the Belgian Resistance and helped these men escape into neutral Holland. Edith was arrested in August 1915 and, within a very short space of time, was court martialed and sentenced to death. Despite an international outcry which included strong representations by the neutral US government, she was executed by firing squad on 12 October 1915. One newspaper, describing it as 'foul murder', said, 'the hearts of the nation will be stirred to the depths at this brave woman's martyrdom at the hands of the arch-Hun who has fouled Europe with blood'. The same newspaper recorded that 'a service at St Paul's cathedral in memory of the martyred nurse Edith Cavell was one of the most striking and impressive tributes that the nation has ever paid within the walls of the national sanctuary'.

4. State funeral

The death of a woman under such circumstances caused a wave of revulsion throughout the civilised world. Besides the memorial service in St Paul's, Edith Cavell was the first female commoner to be given a state funeral at Westminster Abbey, an honour she shares with Princess Diana and ex-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

5. Railway Van No. 132

The bodies of Edith Cavell, Captain Charles Fryatt and of the Unknown Warrior, were each brought to London in the same railway van, No. 132, which is now preserved by the Kent and East Sussex Railway.

6. An English Saint?

There are dozens of memorials to Edith Cavell - in Belgium, in France and throughout the English-speaking world including hospitals and schools and there is even a mountain named after her! Edith's life is also celebrated in music, from a Catholic mass to recent folk music. The Church of England, which does not make saints, created the unusual honour of an Edith Cavell Day, 12 October, which she shares with the prison reformer Elizabeth Fry (d. 1845) and the missionary Bishop Wilfrid of Ripon (d. 709).

7. Films about Edith Cavell

A short Belgian film of her funeral in 1915 achieved worldwide distribution, and a silent movie was made in Australia in 1916 about her. The Woman the Germans Shot was a 1918 American silent movie based on the life and career of Nurse Edith Cavell.

Herbert Wilcox made two films about Edith Cavell. The first was Dawn, a 1928 silent movie which starred one of the leading actresses of her day, Sybil Thorndike, as Edith. It became one of the most controversial British films of the 1920s: pressure was exerted by the German ambassador in London and the British Foreign Secretary to prevent the film being passed for exhibition and it was censored because of its 'brutal depiction' of warfare and anti-German sentiments.

Wilcox returned to the subject in 1939, this time in a 'talkie', Nurse Edith Cavell, with the beautiful Anna Neagle as the protagonist and made in association with RKO Radio Pictures in the USA. This highly-acclaimed film was nominated at the 1939 Oscars for Best Original Score, and its release in America and in Europe on the eve of the Second War World had a significant impact on audiences.

8. The image of Edith Cavell was strong - even among men

In October 1940, two stragglers from the British army's defeat at St Valery-en-Caux in Normandy reached Paris. They were Captain D. B. Lang, Adjutant 4th Battalion, Queens Own Cameron Highlanders, 51st (Highland) Division and Second Lieutenant John Buckingham. They sought help at the American embassy but were told that they 'could no longer help us, financially or otherwise. The Germans were tightening things up and they [the Americans] dare not run any risks'. Lang went away 'almost in despair ... but returned the next day in the hopes of something'. Lang was lucky and he was introduced to Kitty Bonnefous, who, along with Etta Shiber was running an escape-line and who he reported 'was very willing to help us, she was another Edith Cavell who would stop at nothing to help the British reach unoccupied France'.

9. Scotland's own Edith Cavell

Mary-Helen Young trained as a nurse in London and worked in a hospital in France during the First World War. She became a private nurse and was in Paris when the Germans took the city. As a Briton, she was interned during the general round-up of aliens in 1940 but released about six months later, presumably on grounds of her age (she was nearly 60). In the interwar years, Mary-Helen had visited her hometown in Scotland, the last time being for three months in 1938, and now she had an opportunity to leave France altogether. However, for whatever reason, she never applied for the necessary exit papers. She did send cryptic postcards to her sister in Scotland. One dated November 1943 simply read, 'From Marie-Hélène who is well and sends her love'. This card was probably sent when she was already under arrest for a second time, accused of helping downed airman to evade capture by the Germans. Mary-Helen died in the notorious Jugendlager at Ravensbrück sometime in early 1945. After the Second World War the Aberdeen Press and Journal learned that Mary-Helen had 'died as she lived, a brave Scotswoman'. The newspaper proudly acclaimed her as Scotland's very own Edith Cavell - 'Right up to the very end nothing could break her. She would smile, even in this hell that the Germans had made for us, she was a brave woman, the bravest of the brave'.

10. Edith Cavell and Mary Lindell

Edith's hospital in Brussels had been overrun by the Germans in the First World War, when Mary was a 20-year old nurse at a French Red Cross hospital in northern France. Mary's Paris fell under German occupation in 1940 when Mary was nearly the same age as Edith had been when she was executed. Mary - whose girlhood memory of Edith's martyrdom was reinforced by the release of Wilcox's 1939 film - frequently summoned the image of the martyred nurse. When setting up her escape-line Mary claimed: 'What gave me the idea that something was to be done was what Edith Cavell had done in the last war, was necessary and had to be done in this war. Who? There was nobody in Paris, or nobody who could do it, so I said there you are, darling, you are to do it'.
By Peter Hore
You might also be interested in:

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The History Press | 10 things you didn't know about Edith Cavell, nurses & Mary Lindell

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English nurse Edith Cavell has gone down in history for saving soldiers on both sides of the fence and helping some 200 Allied soldiers escape from German -occupied Belgium during World War I. On 12 October 1915, Edith was murdered by firing squad after being arrested and accused of treason.

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Edith Cavell was a famous nurse who helped soldiers from all sides during World War One. Find out more in this Bitesize Primary KS2 History guide.

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This piece is for those that love history, want to know about the Pioneers of nursing, The history of the NHS and who are interested in Archives, Artefacts, Museums, Portraits and photography linked to Nursing, Medicine and Health. Karen Blake, Senior Lecturer

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This piece is for those that love history, want to know about the Pioneers of nursing, The history of the NHS and who are interested in Archives, Artefacts, Museums, Portraits and photography linked to Nursing, Medicine and Health. Karen Blake, Senior Lecturer

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History  of Nursing

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Like many professions, nursing has changed over the years. The first known records of 'nurses' date back to the Roman Empire, c.300AD. In the Middle Ages 'nursing' duties were largely the premise of family members or the Church, with nuns and monks providing medicinal and pastoral care for the sick.

It was not until the conflicts of the 1800s and 1900s that modern nursing was established and recognised as a profession in its own right.

A timeline of nursing

1853 - The Crimean War broke out. Florence Nightingale and Mary Seacole were celebrated for the standard of nursing care they provided during the conflict.

1859 - William Rathbone, merchant and philanthropist, established the first district nursing service in Liverpool. Initially staffed by one nurse, he asked Florence Nightingale for advice on how to expand the service.

1860 - Florence Nightingale opened the first nursing school in London.

1879 - A new training school for nurses opened in Leeds, offering a one-year course.

1880 - Eva Luckes was appointed Matron of the London Hospital - the only general hospital serving the east end of London. Luckes developed a new style of training that combined theoretical and practical experience.

1893 - The Royal British Nurses' Association was established. It aimed to uphold the standards of the profession.

1905 - The course at the Leeds training school for nurses was extended to four years. Nurses in their final year were given the title of 'Staff Nurse'

1907 - Florence Nightingale was awarded the Order of Merit for her work in nursing. She was the first woman to receive the award.

1914-18 - The First World War

1915 - Edith Cavell was arrested while working as a nurse during the First World War in Brussels. She was sentenced to death for helping allied soldiers to escape occupied territory and executed by firing squad.

1919 - The Nurses Registration Act standardised nurse training and examination. When they passed their nursing certificate, students gained the professional qualification of State Registered Nurse.

1921 - The University of Leeds became the first university in Europe to establish a Diploma in Nursing. Leeds General Infirmary later became of the first teaching hospitals in England to train State Enrolled Nurses (SEN).

1960 - Male nurses were allowed to register as members of the Royal College of Nursing for the first time.

1972 - Professor Asa Briggs published a review of nursing. He concluded that training was inadequate and proposed changes to the professional education of nurses.

1973 - Jean McFarlane became the first Professor of Nursing in England at the Faculty of Medicine at Manchester University.

1979 - Catherine Hall became the first nurse to be invited to sit on the General Medical Council, the doctors' regulatory body.

2009 - Nursing became a degree-only profession.

2015 - 11.2% of registered nurses and health care workers employed by the NHS were men.

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Nursing us back to health - Thackray Health Heroes

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Like many professions, nursing has changed over the years. The first known records of 'nurses' date back to the Roman Empire, c.300AD. In the Middle Ages 'nursing' duties were largely the premise of family members or the Church, with nuns and monks providing medicinal and pastoral care for the sick.

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The Human Body and they do have a Future of Medicine page too

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Stimulate the brain and find out how this fantastically complex organ is the body's primary control center.

Every cell in the body depends on this muscle, the body's hardest-working organ.

Digestive System

Feed the body different foods and discover how this system is the body's fuel factory.

Learn how the lungs provide the breath of life and see the debilitating effects of asthma.

Watch how aging and stresses like cuts and sunlight can affect the body's largest organ.

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Facts and Information About the Human Body

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Stimulate the brain and find out how this fantastically complex organ is the body's primary control center. Every cell in the body depends on this muscle, the body's hardest-working organ. Digestive System Feed the body different foods and discover how this system is the body's fuel factory.

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The Didsbury Museum WITH MEDICAL ARTEFACTS

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Most Australians - Indigenous people under the protection acts were an exception - have long taken for granted their right to cross state borders. They have treated them much as they do the often unmarked boundaries dividing their suburbs. Not any more.

Australia has closed its international borders to non-residents. South Australia has announced it will close its borders, New South Wales is moving closer to lock-down over the next two days, with Victoria set to follow suit. The Tasmanian government is forcing non-essential travellers into 14 days of quarantine. The Combined Aboriginal Organisations of Alice Springs called for severe restrictions on entry to the Northern Territory, and its government has now followed Tasmania's example. Queensland has reciprocated by imposing controls on part of its western border.

Indigenous representatives are right to be concerned. The Spanish influenza pandemic of 1919 devastated some Aboriginal communities. There are many other echoes of that crisis of a century ago in the one we face now.

Read more: Grattan on Friday: We are now a nation in self-isolation

COVID-19 represents the worst public health crisis the world has faced since the Spanish flu. Estimates of global deaths from the flu in 1919 vary, often beginning at around 30 million but rising as high as 100 million. Australian losses were probably about 12,000-15,000 deaths.

The outbreak did not originate in Spain, but early reports came from that country, where the Spanish king himself went down with the virus. It happened at the end of the first world war and was intimately connected with that better-known disaster.

The virus likely travelled to Europe with American troops. As the war ended, other soldiers then carried it around the world. The virus would kill many more people than the war itself.

Australia was fortunate in its relatively light death toll; lighter, for instance, than South Africa's or New Zealand's.

Prime Minister Billy Hughes was in Europe, at first in London and then at the Paris Peace Conference. But the Commonwealth acted early. The imposition of a strict maritime quarantine in late 1918 and early 1919 helped slow the spread and was decisive in producing a lower rate of infection. But the authorities were ultimately unable to provide a uniform response as the crisis worsened.

National Museum of Australia

Confusion caused by a milder form of influenza that arrived in Australia in September 1918 didn't help matters. Some authorities, such as the Commonwealth director of quarantine, J.H.L. Cumpston, erroneously believed cases diagnosed in the early months of 1919 were part of this earlier wave. As the historian Anthea Hyslop has shown, having been the architect of the successful maritime quarantine, Cumpston became a victim of his own success. He clung to the theory that new infections were a result of the local epidemic, rather than being a new and more virulent form arriving from overseas.

The Spanish flu came in waves and was extraordinarily virulent. There were reports of people seeming perfectly health at breakfast and dead by evening.

An illness lasting ten or so days, followed by weeks of debility, was more common. An early sign was a chill or shivering, followed by headache and back pain. Eventually, an acute muscle pain would overcome the sufferer, accompanied by some combination of vomiting, diarrhoea, watering eyes, a running or bleeding nose, a sore throat and a dry cough. The skin might acquire a strange blue or plum colour.

Unlike with COVID-19, which has so far had its worst effects on older people, men between the ages of about 20 and 40 seem to have been especially vulnerable. The well-known Victorian socialist and railway union leader, Frank Hyett, seen by some as a future Labor prime minister, lost his life on Anzac Day 1919 at just 37. Five thousand attended his funeral, probably not wise in the circumstances, but testament to his standing.

Almost a third of deaths in Australia were of adults between 25 and 34. The Spanish flu probably infected 2 million Australians in a population of about 5 million. In Sydney alone, 40% of residents caught it.

For Australia, the flu came after a most divisive and traumatic war in which Hyett himself had been a prominent anti-conscriptionist. Many Australians then and now believe the war made the nation. The federation of the colonies had occurred less than two decades before, but it is supposedly the blood sacrifice of war that melded what were still quasi-colonies into a nation in the emotional and spiritual sense. Gallipoli and the Anzac legend are credited with strengthening a national outlook.

NSW State Archives

But that outlook was hard to discern during the crisis of 1919. In November 1918, the various state authorities had entered into an agreement for dealing with the threat, but it did not long hold. In his groundbreaking social history of the Spanish influenza epidemic, Humphrey McQueen suggested that in relation to many matters, "the Commonwealth of Australia passed into recess".

"The dislocation of interstate traffic is quite unavoidable," commented the Tamworth Daily Observer on January 31 1919, "as naturally the clean States could not be expected to continue communications with the infected."

The flu probably came into the country via returning soldiers, many of whom broke quarantine. The precise source of the first known infection - in Melbourne in January 1919 - was never discovered.

Under the federal agreement, Victorian health authorities should have promptly reported the case to the Commonwealth, which would then have closed the borders with New South Wales and South Australia. Once cases were reported in other states, the Commonwealth would then lift the border controls. As with the rabbit-proof fence ridiculed by Henry Lawson, there was not much point in trying to prevent the border crossing of a disease already on both sides, especially considering the threat to interstate commerce.

Read more: Can coronavirus spread through food? Can anti-inflammatories like ibuprofen make it worse? Coronavirus claims checked by experts

It was a cumbersome plan and it did not work. Melbourne authorities did not report its early cases to the Commonwealth. With the delay of a week, the flu reached Sydney by train from Melbourne. Authorities in New South Wales quickly declared that state's small number of infections a day before a dilatory Victoria reported its much larger number, now over 350.

There were too few doctors and nurses to deal with the crisis - many were still with the armed forces overseas, and others caught the flu. Health facilities were overrun. In Melbourne, the Exhibition Building was turned into a large hospital, as were some schools. Schools shut down at various times in different states during 1919, but widespread disruption was caused either by government decisions to close or the illness of teachers.

National Museum of Australia

Individual states did their own thing as the national agreement fell apart. Tasmania imposed a strict quarantine and had the lowest mortality rate in Australia - 114 per 100,000 - but the pandemic did its economy great damage. Western Australian authorities impounded the transcontinental train and placed its passengers in isolation.

Queensland imposed border control. Travellers had to cool their heels in Tenterfield, in tents and public buildings adapted to house them. There was irony here: this was the town where, in a famous address, Henry Parkes initiated the move toward federation of the colonies in 1889.

Land quarantine was likely ineffective. And while maritime quarantine had almost certainly slowed the rate of infection, its prolongation by the states did great damage to an already fragile economy devastated by the war. Coal was the lifeblood of an industrialising economy, and it was mainly carried by the coastal shipping trade.

There were shortages of other goods, too. Tasmania was running low on flour, and its developing tourism industry was badly knocked about. But such a price was surely worth paying for Australia's moderate rate of infection and death compared with international standards.

As with COVID-19, doctors bickered about the best way of dealing with the crisis. Newspapers raised alarm with their regular comparisons with the Black Death of medieval times. Advertisements for quack cures abounded, just as dodgy advice - along with plenty of good sense - can be found at a glance on social media today.

Read more: 100 years later, why don't we commemorate the victims and heroes of 'Spanish flu'?

Inoculation was widely practised and might have had a positive effect on those not yet infected. For a time, it was compulsory to wear a mask in the street. Places of entertainment such as theatres, cinemas and dance halls closed, as did churches. The Sydney Easter Show was called off in 1919, as it has been for 2020.

Some good came of the crisis. The formation of a federal Department of Health in 1921 was a response to the failure of the states to cooperate.

But there are also plenty of warnings for us in the Spanish flu pandemic. Some thought the crisis under control early in the autumn of 1919, with state governments lifting some restrictions. But it came to life again and carried off many Australians with it.

The Spanish flu might have hit working-age men most seriously because they were more likely than others to have multiple social contacts. Vulnerable communities such as Indigenous people were very badly affected.

And Australia at times suffered from deficiencies of political, medical and administrative decision-making.

The recent move by Tasmania, and the announcements over the weekend that other state premiers are moving beyond the nationally agreed restrictions on activity, might presage future divisions between Australian governments.

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How Australia's response to the Spanish flu of 1919 sounds warnings on dealing with coronavirus

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Most Australians - Indigenous people under the protection acts were an exception - have long taken for granted their right to cross state borders. They have treated them much as they do the often unmarked boundaries dividing their suburbs. Not any more. Australia has closed its international borders to non-residents.

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We look at seven decades of the development of the NHS, alongside medical advancements, highlighting events that have been documented with archive photography.

After the planning of an ambitious project to bring healthcare to everyone in the UK, the NHS was launched by Aneurin Bevan, the Health Secretary of the post-War Labour government.

Bevan, seen below in 1945, was the chief architect of the plan to bring together hospitals, doctors, nurses, pharmacists, opticians and dentists under the umbrella of one organisation.

The services were available to everyone, financed entirely from taxation with the central principle being that people would pay according to their means.

Bevan is seen below on 5 July 1948 on the first day of the NHS, at Park Hospital, in Manchester (known today as Trafford General Hospital).

1952: Charges introduced

By the 1950s, spending on the NHS exceeded what had been expected by Parliament and the Treasury.

Five years after the launch of the NHS, charges of one shilling (5p) for prescriptions were introduced, and a flat rate of £1 for ordinary dental treatment.

Five-year-old David Hurst is seen below, receiving dental treatment at the minor ailments clinic of the newly opened LCC Woodberry Down Health Centre, in London, in 1952.

Bevan, then Minister of Labour, resigned from the government in protest at the introduction of the prescription charges.

The charges were briefly abolished in 1965 and then reintroduced in 1968.

In 1952, Princess Margaret opened a new department of the Queen Alexandra Hospital at Cosham, Portsmouth, seen below.

British scientist Sir Richard Doll began research into lung cancer in the 1940s, following an alarming rise in the disease.

His research on patients in 20 London hospitals revealed that smokers were far more likely than non-smokers to die of lung cancer. He published his findings in the British Medical Journal with Sir Austin Bradford Hill.

Doll gave up smoking while carrying out his research and went on to live to be 92. He is seen below in 2004.

The government accepted the link between smoking and lung cancer in 1954.

Everyone under the age of 15 was vaccinated against polio and diphtheria in a programme in 1958. Before the vaccinations, cases of polio climbed as high as 8,000 and diphtheria as high as 70,000 in epidemic years, resulting in 5,000 deaths.

In the early 1950s, NHS mobile immunisation vans were used, seen below in Portsmouth.

1961: Pill becomes available

Initially, the pill was available to only married women, until the law was changed in 1967.

The number of British women using the pill rose from 50,000 to one million between 1962 and 1969.

Prof Gregory Pincus, who developed the contraceptive pill, is seen below on the streets of London in 1966.

1968: UK's first heart transplant

Britain's first heart transplant was carried out at the National Heart Hospital, in Marylebone, London, in 1968.

South Africa-born surgeon Donald Ross led a team of 18 doctors and nurses to operate on 45-year-old Frederick West in a seven-hour procedure. The donor was 26-year-old labourer Patrick Ryan, seen below with his wife, Mitzi, on their wedding day.

West, seen below after the operation, died 46 days later from an associated infection. Only six further transplants were carried out over the following 10 years, for fear of failure.

Sheila Thorns underwent a Caesarean section at Birmingham Maternity Hospital in 1968, giving birth to six babies; four girls and two boys.

The medical team numbered 28 staff. One of the girls died shortly after the birth. The five surviving babies are seen in incubators in a photo below.

Two further babies died at a later date. About one birth in three billion results in sextuplets. Thorns had been treated with the fertility treatment gonadotrophin.

She is seen in a photo below in 1969 with three of her sextuplet babies. From left to right, they are Susan, Roger and Julie.

Parents Sheila and Barry Thorns are seen in Woman magazine in 1969, below.

A CT scanner uses X-rays and a computer to create detailed images of the inside of the body. The scans are sometimes referred to as Cat scans.

The images of internal organs, blood vessels and bones can be used to diagnose and monitor conditions and guide treatments.

Godfrey Newbold Hounsfield (below, standing far left) conceived the concept of the scanner in 1967 and launched it in 1972.

Model Gillian Duxbury appeared with the scanner in a press photo call below, alongside its developers.

Hounsfield's invention earned him a Nobel Prize alongside the American Allan McLeod Cormack, who developed the same idea in the US.

Today, CT scanners are widely used.

1978: World's first test-tube baby

A new technique to fertilise an egg outside a woman's body before replacing it in the womb was developed by Dr Patrick Steptoe, a gynaecologist at Oldham General Hospital, and Dr Robert Edwards, a physiologist at the University of Cambridge.

Lesley Brown gave birth to the world's first test-tube baby, Louise Brown, in 1978.

Louise Brown is seen below in 1981 with her parents, John and Lesley Brown, and playing in a garden the same year.

Louise Brown is seen below in 2013, holding the jar in which her embryo was incubated.

In 1985, two-year-old Benjamin Hardwick became Britain's youngest liver transplant patient, at Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge.

The transplant was successful, but Hardwick died 14 months later just after his third birthday.

His family set up the Ben Hardwick Memorial Fund to offer financial support to the families of children with primary liver disease.

Hardwick is seen below with his mother, Debbie, in 1984.

1998: Better Health Better Wales

The publication of the report Better Health Better Wales in 1998 explicitly laid out the link between poverty and ill-health.

Nurse Lisa Roberts is seen in 1998 below, examining X-rays on a light-box in the special care baby unit at the University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff.

2002: First successful gene therapy

The first successful gene therapy was carried out at Great Ormond Street Hospital, London, in 2002, curing 18-month-old Rhys Evans of "bubble boy" disease - severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID).

Children born with SCID have no immune system of their own and must be kept in totally sterile conditions. Evans is seen below in 2002.

2007: Smoking ban

Smoking was banned in restaurants, pubs and other public places in England from 1 July 2007.

In 2007, patients were treated for fast or irregular heartbeats, using a robotic arm, at St Mary's Hospital, London.

The Da Vinci surgical system robot is seen below at the Royal Marsden Hospital, in London, in 2007.

The opening ceremony of the 2012 London Olympic Games included a performance that paid tribute to the Great Ormond Street Hospital and the NHS.

On 27 December 2012, Mark Cahill's hand was amputated and a donor hand was transplanted during an operation at Leeds General Infirmary.

Cahill is seen below after the operation, at home with his wife, Sylvia.

2018: The NHS turns 70

The NHS celebrates its 70th birthday on 5 July 2018.

A composite image below shows an NHS waiting room at the Montague Hospital, South Yorkshire, in 1959 (left) and a waiting room at Milton Keynes University Hospital in 2018 (right).

To mark the 70th anniversary of the NHS, Reuters photographer Hannah McKay took photos of NHS workers at Milton Keynes University Hospital.

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We look at seven decades of the development of the NHS, alongside medical advancements, highlighting events that have been documented with archive photography. After the planning of an ambitious project to bring healthcare to everyone in the UK, the NHS was launched by Aneurin Bevan, the Health Secretary of the post-War Labour government.

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History of NHS Treatment

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Since 1948, The National Health Service has been providing free healthcare for all in the United Kingdom. During its history, it has been plagued by controversy and financial concerns, but has also supported life-changing discoveries.
The National Health Service (NHS) was launched on 5 July 1948. This radical new project offered free, professional healthcare to all for the first time.

It was introduced by Clement Attlee's Labour Government to help a war-ravaged nation get back on its feet.

Before the NHS came into being, healthcare had to be paid for. Many people went without until their condition became unbearable and had to look to charity for help.

When the NHS was launched in Manchester in 1948, Health Minister Aneurin Bevan assured the public that the service was for "everyone - rich or poor, man, woman or child."

For over 70 years, the NHS has brought innovation, relief and life to countless people throughout Britain. From day one it has faced financial challenges, courted controversy and continues to be a hot topic for debate today.

What do you think the future holds for the NHS?

A timeline of treatment

1948 - The NHS was launched at Park Hospital (now Trafford General Hospital) in Manchester. The service was accessed by so many people that it almost collapsed within the first few weeks.

1952 - Having exceeded its expected running costs, the NHS introduced charges of one shilling (5p) for prescriptions and £1 for dental treatment.

1954 - British scientist, Sir Richard Doll, published his research on the link between smoking and lung cancer.

1958 - The first mass vaccination programme against polio and diphtheria is introduced to all children under the age of 15.

1961 - The contraceptive pill first became available on the NHS. It was only available to married women until 1967.

1965 - Charges for NHS prescriptions and dental treatments were scrapped, but reintroduced 3 years later.

1968 - The UK's first heart transplant was carried out at the National Heart Hospital in London.

1968 - The first British woman gave birth to sextuplets after receiving fertility treatment.

1972 - Computerised tomography (CT) scanners were used for the first time.

1978 - The world's first test tube baby was born at Oldham General Hospital.

1988 - Breast Screening Programme began in units set up across the UK.

2004 - The Organ Donor Register was created.

2007 - Smoking was banned in pubs and restaurants in England.

2012 - The first hand transplant operation was carried out at Leeds General Infirmary.

2018 - The NHS celebrated its 70th birthday.

2019 - The future of the NHS continues to be one of the most talked about issues in British life.

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NHS - A national treasure - Thackray Health Heroes

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Since 1948, The National Health Service has been providing free healthcare for all in the United Kingdom. During its history, it has been plagued by controversy and financial concerns, but has also supported life-changing discoveries. The National Health Service (NHS) was launched on 5 July 1948.

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Coronavirus: Intensive care night shift in pictures

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Coronavirus: Intensive care night shift in pictures

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May 2020

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Intensive care units are on the frontline of the coronavirus pandemic, working to keep the most seriously ill patients alive.
Access into these units is extremely restricted, but I was allowed to spend a 12-hour shift with the overnight ICU team at Hairmyres Hospital in East Kilbride.

Hairmyres Hospital normally has one intensive care unit, but now there are two Covid wards and two ICU areas for Covid patients.

The primary ICU has been running at 240% capacity for most of the Covid crisis, and its equipped to flex up to 400%.

Dr Austin Rattray leads the overnight ICU team of 30 nursing staff and clinical support workers, three consultants and two junior doctors.

"It's been incredibly difficult for families not to be able to be with their loved ones, and for patients not to have the direct support of their families. That's been one of the hardest aspect of this," he says.

ICU charge nurse Morag Malcom monitors the breathing of a patient.

She usually works in the unit, but many of her current colleagues are not normally part of the ICU team. They have been quickly retrained from other departments to fill staffing shortages brought on by the pandemic.

Each night blood samples are taken from all Covid-19 patients to test for the presence of the virus. Samples are passed from the strictly sanitised ICU to staff waiting outside.

A patient's X-ray is examined for fluid, to help decide if they can be taken off a ventilator.

Dr Rattray directs a team of six nurses to help him "prone" a patient whose oxygen levels suddenly dropped dangerously low, turning the patient on to their front side to ease breathing.

"We're at the point that there's really nothing else we can do," he explains.

"Normally in the ICU we like our patents sedated but alert, but here the patients need to be in an induced coma," says Dr Rattray.

"But it's about risk management and this is what we need to do to keep him alive tonight."

One Covid-19 patient has been dependent on a ventilator for 23 days.

"Our understanding of the disease is rapidly progressing," says Dr Rattray. There's been remarkable local, national and international sharing of information which has allowed us to learn rapidly from each other, and prepare for whatever's next."

A nurse tends to a patient recently removed from a ventilator. Strict isolation is in place to limit the spread of the virus, meaning families are not permitted into the ICU for visits.

"We know it's heartbreaking for the families not to see their loved ones who are so sick, but there's one nurse with each patient at all times, they are never left alone for one moment," explains charge nurse Morag Malcom.

Covid-19 patient Lynn Plunkett is recovering after time spent in the ICU.

She says: "The doctor asked me if I should be resuscitated if needed. I said you keep me alive no matter what. I have my first grandson being born in two weeks and I need to meet him. You keep me alive no matter what."

Anaesthetic trainee Katie Maguire, showing the marks left by her face mask after a 12-hour shift. She does not normally work in intensive care, but has been drafted in during the pandemic.

All images by Christopher Bobyn.

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In pictures: An intensive care night shift at work

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Intensive care units are on the frontline of the coronavirus pandemic, working to keep the most seriously ill patients alive. Access into these units is extremely restricted, but I was allowed to spend a 12-hour shift with the overnight ICU team at Hairmyres Hospital in East Kilbride.

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In pictures: Indigenous nurse on frontline in virus fight (May, 2020)

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In pictures: Indigenous nurse on frontline in virus fight (May, 2020)

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As the coronavirus pandemic has spread across Brazil, indigenous people have been among the worst affected.

On the outskirts of the city of Manaus, Parque das Tribos is a settlement of descendants from 35 different tribes.

Many homes lack plumbing and electricity, and there is no public health clinic nearby.

Nurse Vanderlecia Ortega dos Santos has responded by volunteering to care for her indigenous community of 700 families.

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She has been monitoring some 40 patients suspected of having contracted Covid-19. To treat them, she gives her patients painkillers and other basic medicines, while offering guidance on limiting contagion.

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In pictures: Indigenous nurse on frontline in virus fight

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She has been monitoring some 40 patients suspected of having contracted Covid-19. To treat them, she gives her patients painkillers and other basic medicines, while offering guidance on limiting contagion.

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The great nursing registration controversy

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The great nursing registration controversy

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The main challenge in establishing a register of nurses, was that no one could agree on how to define nursing in the first place. What was it that made nursing care unique?

Technical expertise and clinical training were and are essential skills for a nurse. However, viewing nursing as a science risked placing the profession in the hands of the medical world. On one hand, matrons and sister tutors taught nurses on the wards, whilst doctors taught anatomy and physiology in the classroom. Tension between medicine and care was problematic.

As emphasised by Florence Nightingale, nursing has long been considered a moral calling. As a predominantly female profession, it required qualities assumed innate in women: self-sacrifice, compassion, sympathy and kindness. These were expected to run parallel to clinical skill, but at the same time considered uniquely female. Those against registration felt nurses should be managed by female matrons, not male doctors, and thus it should not be considered a science.

Whilst this debate for regulation continued, the College of Nursing struggled to appease the different sides. It wanted nursing to grow as a credible profession and provide the best possible staffing throughout the Great War. The College helped to ensure that the Registration Bill was finally passed. The failure to clearly define nursing, however, was to have long-lasting effects.

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Wake up, slackers! | Royal College of Nursing

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Technical expertise and clinical training were and are essential skills for a nurse. However, viewing nursing as a science risked placing the profession in the hands of the medical world. On one hand, matrons and sister tutors taught nurses on the wards, whilst doctors taught anatomy and physiology in the classroom.