NHS Scotland Event 2018

Our 70^th anniversary celebrations continued this week as we attended the 2018 NHS Scotland event in the SEC Glasgow. The event is in its thirteenth year and is the ‘premier meeting place’ for those who are committed to delivering high quality health and social care services. It brings together those working for and with the NHS in Scotland and provides them with the opportunity to consider the challenges, to share best practice, to view the latest innovative approaches and to develop tools and techniques designed to support them in their various roles.

The 70^th anniversary provided the event with an excuse to reflect on what the NHS has meant for people in Scotland, to recognise and thank staff for their contributions, and to celebrate the massive achievements that have been made over the past seven decades. The event theme was ‘Delivering Now, Improving for the Future’, and this flavoured many of the discussions throughout each day as people speculated on what another 70 years of the NHS could achieve.

LHSA were situated on the NHS 70^th stand where alongside freelance historian Chris Holme and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde Archivist Dr Alistair Tough we spoke to attendees who were passionate about the history of the NHS in Scotland. As well as sharing stories relating to our collections we listened to many people who were eager to share their personal memories and experiences too.

On day one those who visited the stand were encouraged to write down their memories of NHS Scotland and what makes them proud to work for the service. These thoughts were then taken by artists Ken Darling and Andrew Forsyth (http://www.darlingforsyth.com/) who then used them to create a large mural over the course of the day. Which was fascinated to watch develop:

Day two was focused on looking to the future and people recorded their hopes for how NHS Scotland will progress in the years to come. These thoughts were also captured in the artwork of Darling and Forsyth. The themes of funding and technology were prevalent and the idea of a robot nurse made it to the board:

The event was an excellent opportunity to engage NHS staff with the history of the health service throughout Scotland, and we found people were very excited to both learn and share stories from the past.

If you want to learn more about the past 70 years of the NHS in the Lothian area then come and visit our exhibition currently on display on the 6th floor of the Main Library, University of Edinburgh, George Square.

We also have a free event based on the exhibition on the 5th July. The event will also be held in the Main Library where as well as a chance to view our exhibition there will be a short talk alongside a display of our collections: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/celebrating-the-dawn-of-a-new-era-tickets-46649093695