Adam Dance, MP for Yeovil and a Governor of the local hospital, personally thanked Pat Wilcox as she retired after 51 years as an inspirational nurse at Yeovil Hospital. His thanks were accompanied by a surprise bouquet of flowers for Pat. Mr Dance said: “It is through the dedication and hard work of Pat and her colleagues at Yeovil Hospital that the people of South Somerset can still rely on the NHS.
Pat has given most of her life to the NHS and has worked in the emergency department at Yeovil. I understand there are great difficulties accessing GPs and dentists, but Yeovil Hospital provides much-needed help and reassurance in emergencies. Without this, we would all feel much more insecure.
“I wish Pat well in her retirement and thank her for her years of service to the people of South Somerset and West Dorset. I hope Pat and her husband, Bernie, will now be able to take some time for themselves and, as Pat says, open a new chapter in their lives.” Pat said: “I always wanted to be a nurse and started my training in January 1973.
It was a small hospital then, with two Nightingale wards, a children’s ward, a private wing, and casualties as it was known then, along with outpatients. The District Hospital opened in March 1973. I qualified in 1976, initially working in Main Theatre and Intensive Care, before spending 47 years in the Emergency Department.
“I have had sad times, happy times, and what I would call character-building times. I feel privileged to have worke.