Local hospitals receive new artwork celebrating 75 years of the NHS

Tracy artwork

Exciting new artwork has been specially created by University Hospitals of North Midlands’ (UHNM) arts group, to celebrate 75 years of the NHS.

The artwork explores and celebrated the rich history and heritage of Staffordshire healthcare.

UHNM staff were asked to share their stories using words and images to tell the history of their place of work. This was designed into three unique pieces of artwork exploring the history of healthcare in Staffordshire hospitals.

Alongside this work, a group of Year 9 schoolchildren from St Thomas More Catholic Academy took part in workshops with Saredon Studios. During the workshops, children were invited to respond to the history of Staffordshire through creative art. This resulted in a triptych of incredibly vibrant, colourful and detailed pieces of artwork based on the colours of the Staffordshire flag.

This project is generously funded by Healthcare Support Staffs Ltd, Transform Schools (Stoke) Ltd and Regenter Bentilee in support of arts and culture in schools and healthcare settings across Staffordshire.

The artwork is displayed across Royal Stoke University Hospital, County Hospital and Haywood Hospital.

Lorraine Whitehead, Director of Estates, Facilities and PFI, said: “The Heritage Boards are fantastic and really do demonstrate the power of art in celebrating our rich history at UHNM and the heritage of our local area. 

“It was wonderful to see the partnership between our staff, our local healthcare providers and local schools develop as we united to produce the Heritage Boards.  They have improved and enhanced our healthcare environment for the benefit of our patients, visitors and staff and at the same time allowed us to capture a snapshot of life at UHNM over the decades.

“What a wonderful way to celebrate NHS 75 and my sincere thanks go to all those who supported the project and particularly the school children who created the amazing artwork and the staff (past and present) who shared their own wonderful stories.”