A touching service to mark 70 years of healthcare at NHS Grampian was held at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary yesterday.
Dozens packed into the hospital’s chapel to both celebrate and reflect upon the milestone at a ceremony conducted by Rev Mark Rodgers and the health board chaplaincy team.
Seven candles were lit – one for each decade of the NHS and for each stage of life, honouring staff in maternity, paediatrics, acute, emergency, mental health, primary and palliative care.
Rev Rodgers said: “People appreciate all of the work that the NHS has done and in so many different ways.
“This gave them the ability to come together and feel part of something which everyone has been affected by, letting them give thanks for everything it has meant.”
Music for the service was led by charity Clic Sargent and the Grampian Hospitals Choir, which is made up of members of the healthcare profession.
Throughout the service, they performed a series of rousing hymns, before finishing with a novel rendition of The Northern Lights of Old Aberdeen rewritten to celebrate the health service’s birthday.
Rev Rodgers added: “We tried to be inclusive and made reference to other faiths and had time for silence after each candle was lit for people to use as they saw fit, whether that was prayer or reflection.
“The service highlighted the care we all receive from cradle to grave from the NHS.”
Among those in attendance was one nurse who was began working at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary before the formation of the NHS and experienced its roll-out first hand.
She said: “I still remember as a kid that we couldn’t get the doctor, so the introduction of the National Health Service was a wonderful thing to happen.
“I have got the best memories of being a nurse. It was terrific.”
To watch a video of the Grampian Hospitals Choir performing The Northern Lights in tribute to NHS Grampian’s 70th anniversary, visit pressandjournal.co.uk
