NHS70 special: 60 seconds with Maureen Wray
Maureen Wray is a much-loved Senior Sister at St Bartholomew's. Having started at Barts in 1973, she is now one of our longest serving members of staff.
In her 60 second interview, Maureen reflects on what St Bartholomew’s and the NHS means to her, her fondest memories from her career, and her hopes for the future.
What attracted you to St Bartholomew’s?
I started at Barts as a student nurse in February 1973. I had been accepted at Guys and the Royal London but I preferred the uniform at Barts.
The hat at Guys had a bow under the chin and the Royal London had a dress with “leg of mutton” sleeves. The Barts uniform was much more practical!
I had always been interested in history and liked the fact that Barts is an old hospital with lots of history.
What was the hospital like when you first started?
My first ward was Rahere ward, which was a “bowel” ward. I spent most of my time in the sluice, weighing bedpans and putting them in the fridge.
I remember having to answer the phone “Hello Rahere ward, Nurse Wray here”, which I think used to confuse people.
The buttons on the uniform were removable and over time I lost so many that I often only had one button at the top done up. Luckily we wore aprons, which hid the fact most of my buttons were missing!
The wards back then were Nightingale wards, which I liked because you could see all the patients from the nurses desk. When the Doctors did their ward rounds, the beds had to be tidy with the wheels all turned inwards.
As a student I would never call a Staff nurse by her first name and would never speak to the Sister unless she spoke to me first.
Do you remember any significant events at the hospital?
I remember working on the top floor of KGV when the Old Bailey bomb exploded and the building seemed to shake.
What are some of your proudest achievements?
I was very proud to wear my navy belt with silver buckle when I qualified. I was then very proud to get my 5th year cap after being qualified for one year.
Junior Sisters also had a pink uniform in those days and were therefore known as ‘pinks’. I really enjoyed being a ‘pink’.
What are some of your fondest or funniest memories from working at Barts?
After working on a surgical ward for my first six months, I then went to theatres. I spent a lot of time washing and counting instruments at the end of each day. This was very tedious but it made me learn all the names of the instruments very quickly.
While on theatres I was sent to Angiography in the basement of QEII. There was just the one lab back then and most of our patients were there because they were smokers. I remember thinking how ironic this all was, as our staff room was right by the lab and lots of staff smoked in there. You could smell the smoke in the lab!
What is a key difference between the hospital now and then?
In the early days of Cardiac Catheterisation, the x-ray tube was fixed rather than the patient. So, the patient was strapped into a cradle which tilted and turned the patient to allow us to get pictures of the heart at different angles.
What are your hopes for St Bartholomew’s over the next 70 years?
I hope Barts will continue to be a centre of excellence and continue to train excellent NHS nurses for the future.