Who were the first NHS nurses?

The newly launched healthcare service benefitted from thousands of trained and experienced nurses joining its ranks from day one

Britain’s National Health Service (NHS) was created in 1948 with the signing of the National Health Service Act. This new healthcare service, free at the point of use for all UK citizens, was the spearheaded by Health Minister Aneurin Bevan and built on the recommendations of the Beveridge Report, published in 1942 in the midst of WWII. The report included a number of recommendations for reshaping the nation post-war, tackling what author William Beveridge called the ‘five giants’ of social inequality in the nation; idleness, ignorance, disease, squalor and want.

At the forefront of this new service would be its nurses. Medical nurses were not a new invention. Women working in medicine in such roles can be traced back to the ancient world, but they gained particular prominence and respect in modern history from the Crimean War. It was during this conflict that women like Florence Nightingale and Mary Seacole earned their reputations as caregivers and elevated the profession in the eyes of many who witnessed them.

The creation of the NHS brought together the disparate health services of the nation under one banner and that included nationalising their nursing staff as one force. The first nurses in the NHS would have been experienced as caregivers, not least because many would have been working through the recently concluded war. Most nurses were women, but some men had taken up the calling during the war too and continued in such roles (although they were only able to join the national register from 1951).

The NHS is believed to have launched with 125,000 nurses, although that was still short by several thousand for what the service needed. Many nurses were therefore recruited from the Caribbean and Ireland to help make up the numbers.

A national service also called for a single uniform design. The NHS nurse uniform of 1948 was a fascinating blend of tradition and post-war practicality. Evolving from the nun’s veil, headwear was simplified into the distinctive nurse’s cap. The official ‘Newcastle Dress’ introduced a country-wide standard blue uniform, while their aprons moved from pinafores to a more comfortable, material-saving pinned design.

For hygiene, the wristwatch was replaced by the clip-on fob watch, a nod to Nightingale’s exacting hygiene standards. Badges, rather than jewellery, were worn to signify training and organisational membership, such as union or nursing college affiliation. Even medical equipment saw a revolution with the introduction of the mass-sterilisable interchangeable syringe. Finally, low-heeled, closed-toed shoes were paramount for both hygiene and comfort during long shifts.

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