A wide range of events took place nationally and locally to help mark the 75th anniversary of the NHS on 5th July 2023. Special receptions for NHS staff from across Scotland were held at the Scottish Parliament and Edinburgh Castle and Parkruns took place across the UK to show support for the NHS, including local events at Plean Country Park, the University of Stirling and Callendar House in Falkirk.
NHS Forth Valley’s Communications Department worked with BBC Scotland on a series of special features to celebrate the 75th anniversary. These included a feature on the maternity unit at Forth Valley Royal Hospital showing how staff in support local families right at the very start of life and a feature on the family of Lesley Dunabie, Department Manager/Head of Nursing for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) whose mother Patricia Dunabie worked as a paediatric nurse in Ayrshire and her son Brodie Donnelly training to be a nurse at the University of the West of Scotland). This formed part as part of a special feature on three generations of a family who have all worked for the NHS.
Following a local media appeal to identify people who shared the same birthday as the NHS, Annette Hall from Falkirk, came forward and arrangements were made with local staff to deliver a special NHS 75th anniversary birthday cake to Cunningham House in Grangemouth where Annette is currently being cared for. Former nurse Lesley Douglas and former midwife Marie Goldie were interviewed for a special 75th anniversary event for staff from across NHS Scotland held at Edinburgh Castle on 20th July 2023.
First Minister Humza Yousaf, visited Forth Valley Royal Hospital to thank local staff ahead of the anniversary and meet a number of local patients who had recently undergone surgery. Serco distributed special 75th anniversary cupcakes to patients in all of our local hospitals, afternoon tea boxes were distributed to a number of wards and departments across NHS Forth Valley and Unison colleagues organised special retro sweet stalls for local staff.
The Royal Mint produced a special commemorative 50p for the 75th anniversary to raise money for NHS Charities Together. A number of buildings, historic monuments and other high-profile sites across the country were ‘lit up blue’ to mark the special anniversary.
A local timeline has been created which highlights some of the key changes and developments across NHS Forth Valley over the last 75 years. You can also find out more about the major accomplishments, milestones, innovations and breakthroughs that have been made in the NHS in Scotland on the Our NHS Scotland website.
