Julie and Leonora finally hang up their uniforms

Two NHS staff with almost 75 years’ experience between them are finally hanging up their uniforms.

Julie Miller began her training in 1974, and qualified in the Midlands before moving to Kent in 1978 to work as a midwife at the Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Hospital in Margate.

After 15 years caring for pregnant women and their babies she moved to general nursing, and then became a sister on Birchington ward when it opened for gynaecological patients in 2001.

She has worked on the ward since then, even after taking partial retirement a few years ago.

Healthcare assistant Leonora Mordue joined the team in 2002 and also retired on Friday.

Julie, a grandmother and mum of two, who is 69, said: “There have been a lot of changes since I first started, not all for the better.

“I did prefer the old uniform, even with the caps and aprons – you felt like a nurse and looked like a nurse.

“But I have enjoyed nursing, and I particularly enjoy nursing women. They come in with different challenges, because they tend to be the mainstay of the family so they are worried about what is happening at home.

“I like being able to reassure them that everything is going to be fine and they will get through their surgery and be well and can take better care of their family when they get home.”

Leonora spent 10 years working in accounts before deciding to return to her original vocation.

The 70 year old said: “I started as a cadet nurse when I left school, aged 16, and went on to become a student nurse, but then I met my husband and left to get married.

“I had the opportunity to take redundancy and I wanted a change; I was fed up of the same routine, sitting in front of a computer all day.

“I had enjoyed my training so I thought I would go back.”

Leonora, who lives in Preston, worked at the Kent and Canterbury Hospital before moving across to QEQM, and worked on Birchington ward and outpatient clinics.

She said: “It has changed so much from when I trained, and I think nurses are doing a lot of the jobs doctors would have done back then.

“I remember scrubbing out the metal bed pans but now it is all single-use so there is none of that.

“When I was training there were cockroaches in the nurses’ accommodation but thankfully standards are much higher now.

“I have always worked so it will be very strange, and I do think I could carry on, but you have to make the decision to stop some time.”

Julie plans to enjoy time with her family and friends, while Leonora and her husband welcomed a puppy to the family to keep them busy.

Both agreed they would miss their colleagues and the camaraderie and supportive atmosphere of the ward.