Staff notch up 700 years of "incredible" NHS service

Twenty-eight Guy's and St Thomas' staff, who between them have achieved 700 years of dedicated service in the NHS, have been honoured at a celebratory event. All of the recipients of the Trust’s Long Service Awards have provided a minimum 25 years of devoted service, and were presented with awards by Chief Executive Professor Ian Abbs.

The Long Service Awards, which are funded by Guy’s & St Thomas’ Charity, recognise the outstanding commitment of long-serving staff at the Trust. Both clinical and non-clinical staff were recognised at the event including housekeepers, a maintenance craftsperson (electrical), a children’s community physiotherapist, an assistant service manager, a metastatic breast cancer nurse and a consultant urological surgeon.

Veronica Kiernan celebrated 26 years of service as a healthcare assistant at Harefield Hospital. Veronica started her career as a runner in cardiac theatres before moving to the outpatients department in 2008. She said: “I think I was really fortunate. I had lovely nurses and the theatre manager that trained me, and I did get to work with Professor Magdi Yacoub [an eminent heart surgeon] when he was operating. I worked in his theatre quite a few times and he was lovely.”

Veronica supported the team with a range of cardiac and thoracic procedures, including transplants, working with the scrub nurse, counting instruments, swabs and other equipment. She also replenished stock, pharmacy and theatre scrubs.

Veronica said: "It was a real team effort. Everyone knew everyone, and everyone sort of mucked in to help. Especially in between cases, getting the theatre ready for the next case, from the porter to the consultant anaesthetist."

"I've changed roles over the years but what keeps me here is the familiarity and family atmosphere with my nursing, and healthcare assistant colleagues, and the admin team. So many patients come back every year and get to know us. They are always so grateful and feel very secure at Harefield which gives everyone a good feeling."

Perimetrist Toni Brush has worked in the Ophthalmology department at St Thomas' for 25 years and now plays a crucial role in assessing and monitoring the peripheral vision of patients affected by eye conditions like glaucoma, and retinal diseases and neurological disorders. 

Toni, who has trained more than 100 ophthalmic technicians, said: "The doctors do rely on these visual field tests to understand what they are looking at, at the back of the eye. So, we see patients every 6 months and you do build up a good relationship with a lot of them.

"It's a simple test but to ask a 60, 70, 80-year-old to sit still for 3 or 4 minutes in a dark room, to push a button and concentrate at the same time can be quite difficult. I think that knowing me continuously for the last 20 plus years, puts them at ease, it makes a difference to them."

Chief Executive Professor Ian Abbs, said: “This is my last Long Service Awards ceremony as Chief Executive of Guy's and St Thomas' and I'm immensely proud to be acknowledging the fantastic dedication of loyal colleagues who have given so much of their working lives to supporting our health service. This is an incredible achievement, and we thank you for your commitment through the years.”