News We need your help to celebrate NHS at 75 in Maidstone

The NHS celebrates 75 years of service this July and Maidstone Museum is commemorating the event with a dedicated exhibition and we need your help.

Maidstone Borough Council (MBC) and the Museum team is working with Maidstone & Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust (MTW), to bring the exhibition together. It will be in place from 1 July – 8 October 2023 and we would like to include your memories of working in the health service in the borough.

Did you, a friend or family member work for the NHS in Maidstone?  Did you experience the service as an employee or patient when the new Maidstone Hospital, now part of MTW when it opened? Or maybe you have some great photographs of the old hospitals in and around the borough that you can share? If so, help us celebrate the NHS at 75 and its heroes in Maidstone. Please send us your memories, stories and photographs to be part of this important event.

We would like to hear from anyone who has stories and photographs of the hospitals in Maidstone including:

• Linton Hospital
• Kent County Sanitorium
• Kent County Ophthalmic and Aural Hospital
• West Kent General Hospital
• Maidstone General Hospital
• Oakwood Hospital
• Preston Hall

Cllr Claudine Russell, MBC Lead Member for Leisure and Arts said:

The exhibition at the Museum is a fantastic way to pay tribute to the work of our NHS in Maidstone.  Whilst the service covers many healthcare provisions, in this exhibition we will be focussing on the staff and hospitals that have been and gone from Maidstone and really want to hear from the people that have experienced the NHS as an employee and a patient.

It would be great to include the memories of the people at the heart of the service in this exhibition and we would love to hear from them if they would like to share their stories and be part of this event. We hope to celebrate their work and show our support for everything they have done and continue to do for us with this exhibition.

Please contact the Museum team with your stories and digital photographs by emailing: alexgurr@maidstone.gov.uk

Over 75 years there have been many changes to the NHS in staffing levels and scientific discoveries aiding our health through vaccines, antibiotics, cancer care and mental health care. The exhibition at Maidstone Museum will look at those changes along with instruments from the past, learn about the medical marvels, epidemics, uniforms, and remember the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Miles Scott, Chief Executive of Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust added:

The NHS at 75 is a perfect opportunity to reflect on the remarkable developments in healthcare during this time, and to celebrate our NHS people. Our exceptional staff are passionate about the work they do and dedicated to providing outstanding care.

The exhibition will help us tell the local story of our NHS and we’re delighted to be a part of this fantastic project which showcases the extraordinary history of the NHS in Maidstone.

A Thriving Place is one of MBCs priorities and Maidstone Museum reflects that.

To find out more about events and exhibitions at Maidstone Museum go to:  https://museum.maidstone.gov.uk/

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