To celebrate the NHS turning 75 this week (Wednesday 5 July), we’re sharing the stories of some of our longest serving team members.

Sandra Mahoney (above), 53, is our lead nurse for surgery. It’s down to her love of bones and all things orthopaedics, as well as working alongside a great team, which has kept her at our Trust for over three decades.

Sandra, of Dagenham, was just 18 when she joined the East Roding School of Nursing based at Barking Hospital. While it might have been daunting for her teenage self – Sandra was never in any doubt that she wanted to be a nurse, even when a teacher told her she wasn’t intelligent enough!

She said: “I was in and out of hospital with asthma as a child. That experience made me want to be a nurse and I knew from when I was just eight years old. In a careers discussion at school a teacher said I might not be intelligent enough and advised me to try nursery nursing instead. I tried it out with work experience and quickly discovered it wasn’t for me.

“It was scary when I started my training, being so young. However, I was in the first ‘mature’ class so only four of us were 18-20 and the rest were over 30;  they mothered us and it was an amazing experience.”

While we never seem to have enough nurses now, it wasn’t as easy finding a job when Sandra qualified. It took three months, then she found her dream job in orthopaedics at our former King George Hospital site.

She worked her way up to ward manager, staying in that role for 14 years, and loved nurturing her team.

She added: “I really enjoyed it – my team were like my family. We had lots of social events, like karaoke at mine. That was when I had lots of international nurses join the team, from India and the Philippines. I loved looking after them, and they became part of my family too. It’s given me a great opportunity to travel as I’ve visited them and their families – some have moved to Australia and we still visit each other.”

A temporary move to Queen’s Hospital, which was meant to be for one year to support the orthopaedics team, became permanent. A decade as matron led into her current role as lead nurse.

Explaining her passion for nursing, Sandra said: “I never wavered that it was what I wanted to do. It’s such a privileged position to be in. A lot has changed over the years, but a patient is still a patient at the end of it. When they call for help, it’s instinctive.

“NHS 75 is very exciting and it’s nice to be able to celebrate our staff, and for younger colleagues to hear our stories. I’ve been really looking forward to it.”

Our staff events have also given Sandra an opportunity to indulge her other passion, photography. She’ll be taking pictures of her colleagues tucking into breakfast at Queen’s Hospital on Friday 7 July.