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I was in a Catholic children蜜桃直播檚 home in Birmingham until the age of nine and it was here that I knew I wanted to be a nurse. I had eczema and it was so painful when the nuns used to rip my dressings off. But there was one nun who used what we would now call distraction therapy 蜜桃直播� she蜜桃直播檇 say words that sound rude to a child, such as 蜜桃直播渂ottom蜜桃直播�, and it would have me in such fits of laughter that I didn蜜桃直播檛 feel the pain. I thought she was the most fantastic woman in the world.  

I discovered she was a nurse and decided that was what I wanted to do with my life.

What hurdles did you have to overcome to become a nurse?

When I was 16 or 17, I applied to four London teaching hospitals to do nursing. All of them asked for my photo plus the name of my father and his occupation, but I didn蜜桃直播檛 know it as I hadn蜜桃直播檛 met him at that point. I had seven O-levels with good grades, and I didn蜜桃直播檛 get a reply from any of them. I couldn蜜桃直播檛 understand why I didn蜜桃直播檛 even get any feedback. That was the first barrier.

For my memoirs I interviewed many colleagues to see how they viewed me and one of them who I trained with 蜜桃直播� a good friend of mine to this day 蜜桃直播� commented she was worried about what my future would be like in nursing as a black woman. We all aimed to be ward sisters 蜜桃直播� that was the natural career progression 蜜桃直播� and in the late 60s she hadn蜜桃直播檛 seen any black ward sisters. At the time, I hadn蜜桃直播檛 fully observed that. 

It was tough. We know there was a lot of discrimination. There still is.

How did you feel when you started your training?

I was quite shy. I didn蜜桃直播檛 really get confident until my final year 蜜桃直播� there was always butterflies in my stomach when I had to change my ward. I used to spend a lot of time in the sluice [dirty utility room] sterilising the bed pans. It was my safe place when I needed to be alone. What helped me with shyness was when I found the ability to chat to patients and ask them about themselves. Making people laugh always helped me enormously. 

Elizabeth as a staff nurse in 1968

When patients are so-called 蜜桃直播渄ifficult蜜桃直播� you just need to find things in common. There was a lady I cared for once who I discovered had Irish heritage. I told her about my Irish/Nigerian roots and that I did Irish dancing as a child. She couldn蜜桃直播檛 believe it. There was nobody around on the ward, so I showed her some of my Irish dancing. That really got her laughing.

What are your biggest achievements?  

Being the UK蜜桃直播檚 very first sickle cell and thalassaemia nurse specialist. And helping to establish the .

When I was a health visitor in Brent there were several families with young children who had sickle cell anaemia. I recall a mother whose child was having severe pains and she was utterly distraught that she couldn蜜桃直播檛 take the pain away. I felt helpless and ashamed as I didn蜜桃直播檛 know anything about it myself. That feeling turned to anger that grew deep inside my belly for the lack of preparation we蜜桃直播檇 been given as nurses to care for people with sickle cell disease. I had to educate myself and do something about it.

The desire became even stronger when, in 1972, I found my father and discovered one of my cousin蜜桃直播檚 had sickle cell disease. 

You successfully co-led the campaign for a statue of Mary Seacole 蜜桃直播� the first named memorial statue of a black woman in the UK. Can you explain its importance?

This image of my granddaughter says it all...
 

Dig a little deeper and it蜜桃直播檚 often personal reasons that drive people to fight for things. My personal reason is growing up in a totally white environment, not seeing anybody like myself. As a child I used to wonder: why am I not seeing characters like me in children蜜桃直播檚 books? Why don蜜桃直播檛 I see people like me on TV? 

The statue at St Thomas蜜桃直播� Hospital is a person of mixed race, a nurse, she蜜桃直播檚 feisty and she蜜桃直播檚 a woman. We needed to raise a lot of money and it was tough. It took over 12 years to get there, but once we蜜桃直播檇 built up momentum we knew we could do it. The moment it was unveiled was so wonderful, the sun was shining. I蜜桃直播檒l always remember it.

In what ways do you feel black nursing staff are discriminated against in the NHS? 

From the personal perspective of a black nurse, the evidence is clear that many have been deprived of promotion prospects and not always been treated with dignity and respect, just because of their skin colour. I am not talking about all nurses but a significant number. They are seeing others with less qualifications rise above them. The ultimate insult is that they are often then asked to train those who have been promoted. 

The responsibility here lies with the directors of nursing, those with the powers to promote. They need to have an open-door policy, go out and reach black nurses and all BAME staff working for them who feel they have not got to where they should be, and look at where those individuals are in the organisation and who is at the top. They need to act quickly. It蜜桃直播檚 not a glass ceiling for black nurses, it蜜桃直播檚 a brick wall. 

What concerns me the most is the high proportion of BAME nursing staff who have died or been very ill from COVID-19. 

Many BAME staff don蜜桃直播檛 have the confidence to raise concerns about their safety. And they wonder why nurses are angry about this? The sad fact is it has caused illness and death 蜜桃直播� it蜜桃直播檚 one thing to not get the nursing promotion if you蜜桃直播檙e discriminated against, it蜜桃直播檚 another thing to lose your life.