AS the NHS celebrates its 75th birthday, one incredibly dedicated family has racked up over 70 years of service between them.
Three generations of the Bateman family – Victoria, 78, Michelle, 57, and Liam, 28 – have devoted themselves to caring for others, and are the kind of health heroes The Sun will salute at our Who Cares Wins awards 2023.
When Victoria arrived in Birmingham from Jamaica in 1963, part of the Windrush generation, she knew she was in the right place. At 18, in nurses’ quarters at Selly Oak Hospital, her nursing training began.
Little did she know it would be the start of a 39-year career caring for thousands of patients . . . and inspiring the next two generations of her family to follow in her footsteps.
“It was so cold and grey when I got here. I remember thinking, ‘What are you doing in this cold country?’,” says Victoria, of Nottingham. “I could have stayed and done my nurse training at home in Jamaica, but there was prestige here. I was a long way from home, but soon made the most amazing NHS family.