The Queen has awarded the George Cross to all NHS workers – past and present – on the service’s 73rd birthday.
The George Cross is the UK’s highest civilian honour and has been awarded to NHS workers for carrying out their service “with courage, compassion and dedication”, the Queen said.
It was instituted by King George VI on September 24, 1940, during the height of the Blitz and is granted in recognition of “acts of the greatest heroism or of the most courage in circumstances of extreme danger”.
The coronavirus pandemic means the NHS has been through a year like no other. It has been an extremely challenging year for the NHS, and the country as a whole, but also a year of hope.
Hospitals have cared for around 400,000 seriously ill COVID-19 patients, including more than 100,000 admitted in January alone, along with millions more besides.
At the same time the NHS has rolled out the biggest vaccination programme in health service history; the fastest in Europe and most precise in the world.
The NHS could not have achieved all this without the skill and dedication of our people along with the support of thousands of returners, volunteers, other keyworkers and, of course, the public who played their part by following the social distancing rules.
The NHS’s 73rd birthday offers us all a chance to say a big thank you.
Whether it’s a member of staff or a whole team, a member of the public, an organisation or a community, we should take a moment to say thank you to those who have worked so hard or who have helped out over the last 12 months.
We also want to take the opportunity to promote the over 350 different careers available across the NHS in England. Recruiting and retaining more staff will be vital as we seek to tackle the backlogs that inevitably built up while hospitals cared for hundreds of thousands of COVID patients and get on with delivering the NHS Long Term Plan.
The pandemic has shown that while a career in the NHS can also be challenging it is also hugely rewarding, with the ‘Nightingale effect’ fuelling public interest in working in the health service.
This year sees the return of The NHS Big Tea today (Monday July 5th). This is a chance for communities to come together to thank NHS staff and each other for the huge role they have played over the last year.
Whilst marking all that the NHS has achieved, we will also remember those who have lost their lives to COVID-19. Not just in the NHS, although there will be particular resonance for colleagues, but all those who have been taken too soon.
Finally, our birthday is a chance to celebrate the success of the NHS Vaccination programme and again encourage everyone who is eligible to come forward for a jab. We want to say thank you to our staff, our army of volunteers, and local communities for working so hard to deliver the extraordinary rollout.
