Black History Month special: How the Windrush women became the backbone of the NHS

As part of Black History Month, Simone Riley set out to investigate the impact that the Windrush generation had on the NHS.

This is her story:

The Windrush is a reference to the ship MV Empire Windrush, which arrived at Tilbury Docks, Essex, on 22 June 1948, bringing workers from Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and other Caribbean islands as a response to post-war labour shortages in the UK.

This has been insightful but more so a very personal story as I spoke to family and friends, realising what impact my family had on the NHS.

My late grandmother, who died before I was born, was often known as a modern-day Florence Nightingale. If someone was sick or needed care she was the first person that people in the community would look towards. My grandmother came here in the Windrush era with hope to find a better life in England. She was promised a good life where the streets were paved with gold and work was abundant. She looked forward to what the future held and embarked on a journey with my Grandfather. Having to leave her family and children behind she knew in time she would raise enough money through work to send for the rest of her family.

After several years one by one she sent for her children to come from Jamaica to England having to find accommodation and settle in a new surrounding and culture.

She found work in the NHS to which I was told she thoroughly loved, inspiring other family members who to this day are still following in her footsteps by working for the NHS.

According to the NHS, “Britain is a nation of diversity, with 15% of the population from BME backgrounds and this figure is set to increase over time. The NHS is the biggest employer of people from a BME background in Europe; with one-in-five contributing to the workforce. Some professions have even higher numbers. Over 40 per cent of hospital doctors is from a BME background and 25 per cent of nurses and midwives. In areas like London, most organisations have more than 35 per cent of people from BME backgrounds working in them.”

Please follow me on my audio journey where we celebrate those from the Windrush generation whose effort and work made a significant contributed to the NHS.

We speak to past and present NHS workers along with the cast of a new play “Windrush Women, the backbone of the NHS”, a re-enactment of a family’s journey and their contribution to the NHS.

Click here to listen:

https://www.facebook.com/HitsRadioManchesterNews/videos/479194162808679/

Windrush Women – The Backbone of the NHS' is at Z-arts, Hulme on Friday 11th October at 7.30pm. https://www.z-arts.org/events/windrush-women/