ONE of the first nurses to work on the soon-to-be demolished wards at Blackpool Victoria Hospital has welcomed plans to replace them with a multi-million pound surgical unit.
Sheila Collings worked on the annex wards – which were built as a temporary measure – at The Vic more than 60 years ago.
The five wards, which house podiatry, speech and language and cardiac rehabilitation, will soon be knocked down and replaced w
ith a 61-bed specialist surgical unit made up of seven new theatres.
The development has been heralded as a major improvement for hospital services.
Mrs Collings, 81, from Lytham, started work on the wards as a trainee nurse when she was just 18.
She said: "I couldn't believe they were still there. They were only ever meant to be there as a temporary measure and I thought they would have been knocked down a long time ago. It is about time really.
"They were built because it was only a tiny hospital and they needed more space.
"They were put up during the war and afterwards they were to be destroyed.
"Some of the wards were used to treat tuberculosis patients during the war."
Mrs Collings did not finish her nursing training at The Vic, as at the age of 21 she moved with her husband Harry to Africa.
But she recently returned to the annex wards when Mr Collings had a hearing aid fitted.
She said: "We were told to go the annex and I didn't think it could be the same one, but it was. It had been updated a bit, there was a nice sofa to sit on.
"They had things done to them over the years, but they aren't up to modern standards.
"It certainly felt a bit strange going back there for the first time in some 60 years."
The £40m surgical unit is not the only change to The Vic in the last 60 years.
Mrs Collings said: "It was very different from today. You were always wary of matron.
"She was so strict. Everything had to be just so.
Enjoyed
"We wore capes and butterfly hats and if your butterfly wasn't perfect, you would face the wrath of matron. The discipline was amazing.
"We did all the cleaning and matron used to come round and inspect it.
"If it wasn't good enough you would be in trouble but I enjoyed the job, meeting the patients and helping them."
The hospital trust has now applied for planning permission for the new development and hopes work could be completed on the site by summer 2011.
n Your Health – Page 8
The full article contains 443 words and appears in Blackpool Gazette newspaper.
