We’ve served the NHS for 70 years between us – we nursed with compassion

AS the NHS celebrates its 75th birthday, one incredibly dedicated family has racked up over 70 years of service between them.

Three generations of the Bateman family — Victoria, 78, Michelle, 57, and Liam, 28 — have devoted themselves to caring for others, and are the kind of health heroes The Sun will salute at our Who Cares Wins awards 2023.

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When Victoria arrived in Birmingham from Jamaica in 1963, part of the Windrush ­generation, she knew she was in the right place. At 18, in nurses’ quarters at Selly Oak ­Hospital, her nursing training began.

Little did she know it would be the start of a 39-year career caring for thousands of patients . . . and inspiring the next two generations of her family to follow in her footsteps.

“It was so cold and grey when I got here. I remember thinking, ‘What are you doing in this cold country?’,” says Victoria, of Nottingham. “I could have stayed and done my nurse training at home in Jamaica, but there was prestige here. I was a long way from home, but soon made the most amazing NHS family.

“Nursing is about caring, and everyone around me cared for me, like I cared for them.”

At 19, Victoria married Winston, who served in the RAF, and at 20 she had Michelle, the first of her three children.

She returned to work doing nights so that she and Winston could juggle careers with looking after their baby girl.

“In 1972, I joined Grantham and Kesteven Hospital, then spent the rest of my career at Nottingham City Hospital — it’s a career I loved and still miss,” she says. “I’m incredibly proud to have served the NHS for so long and look back on it with wonderful memories.”

Victoria progressed through the ranks, building a name for herself as an exceptional nurse, dedicated to her staff and patients.

“It wasn’t always easy, we had staff shortages then too, but we all mucked in and helped,” she recalls. “I could borrow nurses from different wards and they’d roll their sleeves up and get stuck in.

“I worked with excellent colleagues my entire career. We all nursed with compassion, care and nothing was too much or too hard. Our patients needed us.”

With a role model like Victoria, it was little wonder Michelle decided at 17 that she wanted to be a nurse. She says: “I remember mum telling me to start working as a healthcare assistant to get a flavour of caring for people.

“She said, ‘It’s not enough to want to be a nurse, nursing has to want you’, and she was exactly right — as usual.” Having trained at St Bartholomew’s Hospital, London, qualifying as a nurse, midwife and health visitor, Michelle is executive director of nursing, Allied Health Professionals and Quality at Derbyshire Community Health Services NHS Foundation Trust.

However, it was her mother’s reputation that she was first known for, she reveals, adding: “I’d tell people my surname and they’d say, ‘Are you Vicky Bateman’s daughter?’.

“They remembered hearing her heels in the corridors or on the wards, and her expectations were that everywhere was spotless and the staff knew all about their patients.

“The level of care, attention to detail and continuity of care she was so passionate about is something I’ve tried to emulate.”

Having served the NHS for 38 years, Michelle has seen lots of changes, not least more focus on community healthcare.

She says: “It’s one of the loveliest things about the NHS. We have great hospitals, surgeons and medical teams, but the community teams, including GPs, are incredible. They keep people in their homes, allow them to maintain independence, visit newborns and look after the elderly, cradle to grave.”

And Michelle’s son Liam Dinnall-Bateman joined the family’s NHS legacy too. Michelle says: “Liam was a professional footballer. He suffered a double leg break at 18, and decided to retrain as a physiotherapist. He works in private clinics now but started in the NHS and was on the frontline in the pandemic.”

When coronavirus struck, Liam got a job as a healthcare assistant in St Oswald’s and Ilkeston community hospitals, working on Covid wards.

“It was incredibly tough, but incredibly rewarding,” he says.

 “I’d get close to a patient over a few shifts only to turn up to a new shift and they’d have passed away. It made me appreciate life more.”

Liam says his colleagues made the experience one he looks back on proudly.

“There were speech and language therapists, ones who had retired — so many people stepped up to help out. Mum volunteered in a vaccination clinic; we both did what we could, like so many other people.”

With his mum and nan clocking up almost 70 years on the NHS between them, Liam says he has learned so much. “I’m so proud of them. For Nan to come from Jamaica and dedicate her life to caring for other people is amazing. Mum’s an incredible nurse and carer. Maybe it’s in our blood.”

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Victoria retired in 2002. She says: “I loved nursing. It gave me family, purpose and a feeling like I had something to contribute. It’s the best job in the world and the NHS is the greatest thing about this country. For my daughter and grandson to have followed in my footsteps and dedicated themselves to looking after other people is wonderful.

“This country might have been grey and cold when I arrived, but the people I met and the NHS I served made me feel so warm, proud and happy to be a nurse.”