ANTIQUES ROADSHOW ANNOUNCES NURSING SPECIAL

The Antiques Roadshow team deliver a special episode about nurses, looking at how the profession has changed from the 19th century to the present day.

Filmed on location at the historic St Thomas’s hospital and St Bartholomew’s hospital in London, the series features fascinating objects that provide an insight into the history of nursing and healthcare, from medals awarded for bravery to early uniforms, cartoons and medical equipment.

Fiona gets the chance to meet comedian Jo Brand, a former psychiatric nurse, and hears about her experience working in emergency mental health clinics as well lighter moments performing in hospital panto.

Fiona also hears the true story of Jennifer Worth, celebrated author of ‘Call the Midwife’, and finds out how far the much-loved cast of nurses and midwives were drawn from Jennifer’s own experience of nursing.

Militaria expert Mark Smith meets a naval nurse who travelled to the Falklands at short notice on a cruise ship converted to treat wounded troops during the bloody conflict while Ronnie Archer-Morgan is moved by the story of a nurse who helped pioneer a compassionate approach to community care for AIDS patients in the 1980s.

The episode also includes inspiring stories from the ‘Windrush generation’ of nurses who came from overseas to work in the NHS whilst the careers of historic figures such as Betsi Cadwaladar and Mary Seacole – contemporaries of Florence Nightingale – are celebrated.