Skip to main content

This site is best viewed with a modern browser. You appear to be using an old version of Internet Explorer.

Michelle and Ariel join national celebration at Westminster Abbey

06/07/2018
This article is more than five years old.

A Matron from the Horton General Hospital in Banbury said she was 'honoured' to join NHS workers from across the country at a 'fabulous' 70th anniversary ceremony at Westminster Abbey on Thursday 5 July 2018.

Michelle Brock, who works in the Emergency Department, was joined by Ariel Lanada, a Divisional Education Lead at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, in representing the 12,000 staff employed by Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

Services were held at Westminster Abbey and York Minister to commemorate 70 years to the day that Aneurin Bevan, the then Health Secretary, launched the NHS in Manchester.

As part of the ceremony, there were speeches from Jeremy Hunt, Health Minister; Philip Hammond, Chancellor of the Exchequer; Sophie, Countess of Wessex; Simon Stevens, NHS England boss and multi-faith leaders.

Michelle, from Bicester, said: “We were really honoured to be representing the Trust and to be part of it was really special.

"We understand the pressures but the day was a celebration of how good the NHS is."

She added: "The Abbey is phenomenal - it was fabulous."

Michelle said the highlight of the day was hearing clinician and patient stories, including that of 15-year-old Freya Lewis who survived the Manchester bombing in May 2017.

The 55-year-old started her career in the NHS in 1979 aged 17 and worked as a trauma and orthopaedic nurse at the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre and the John Radcliffe before becoming a Matron in 2007.

Ariel joined the Trust from the Philippines in 2002 and is now a Senior Nurse.

He said: "It was a great celebration. I was humbled and proud to be able to represent OUH with Michelle."

Dr Bruno Holthof, OUH Chief Executive, added: "It was very difficult to have to pick out just two people to represent all our staff, but Michelle and Ariel have both worked for the Trust for a number of years and their commitment to excellent care, and the way that they lead and support their colleagues, is widely recognised."

Pictured: Michelle, left, with Ariel in front of the Abbey.