Nurse celebrates NHS anniversary with Minister’s cake

Published: 03 July 2008

RCN East Dorset branch member, BJ Waltho has celebrated the 60 year anniversary of the NHS by receiving a home - made cake from the Secretary of State for Health, Alan Johnson.

The gift was a result of a promise made by Mr Johnson to Ms Waltho at the RCN’s 2008 Congress. When she asked what nurses can expect from the Minister and the government as a sixtieth birthday present, the Minister replied:

“I will personally bake you a cake, I promise you that”.

Mr Johnson added that it was essential to secure a fair pay deal and move forward on training and personal development to allow nurses to focus on patient care. He said that he wished to see the NHS ‘clinically led and locally driven’.

Mr Johnson presented the cake after a service at Westminster Abbey to commemorate the NHS’s sixtieth birthday.