ALL AT SEA IN HONG KONG - By Judy Evans

I was posted to the British Military Hospital, Hong Kong in September 1976 as a midwife. To say that I was a reluctant midwife would be an understatement so when I was summonsed to Matron’s office during my nights off about six months after my arrival, I was surprised and a bit worried about what she wanted to say to me. In fact, she made my day as she asked me to go on detachment to HMS Tamar to work in the Families’ Medical Centre.

HMS Tamar was undergoing a huge redevelopment so the Medical Centre was temporarily housed in Victoria Barracks, Headquarters British Forces, just up the road from Tamar on Hong Kong Island. I was to go over to the barracks the next day to meet the other staff before packing up my room in the mess and moving across the harbour to my new home for the next six months.

The British Forces Medical and Dental Services on Hong Kong Island were largely the responsibility of the Royal Navy (RN) with civilian support. There were three or four medical officers who worked as GPs. The practice manager was a RN Chief Petty Officer with locally enlisted medical assistants to run the pharmacy and treatment room. Nursing support was provided by a Queen Alexandra’s Royal Naval Nursing Service (QARNNS) sister, a Chinese sister and a QARANC officer. Next to the medical centre was the dental centre and a SSAFA health visitor completed the team.

The nursing staff’s role was to care for the wives of the servicemen, both Army and Navy living on Hong Kong Island and also the female service personnel posted to the Island. We also looked after UK civil servants. We held family planning and ante-natal clinics, vaccination clinics and worked in the treatment room as required. I was also told that a lot of the wives, being very young and away from their family network in the UK, needed support and just popped in for a chat and advice. This they did very regularly, and it was good to feel that we were making a difference and helping. Their husbands were often either at sea if they were in the RN or on exercise in the New Territories if they were in the Army.

 

I assumed that I would be living in single officers’ accommodation – the Wardroom in naval parlance but as there was none available for females, I was to share a hiring with the QARNNS sister and Women’s Royal Naval Service (WRNS) officer who worked in HQBF. Transport would be provided to and from the Barracks as it was situated a few miles away, on the west side of the Island. The moment I saw it, I was blown away and recently saw that the one we actually lived in was on the market for the equivalent of £4m (2020 prices). There was a balcony with a view over to Lamma Island and facing west, the sunset each evening was amazing. We had an amah who came in five or six days a week to clean and do our laundry.

I was welcomed into the fold, made friends and enjoyed the busy social life of HMS Tamar.

There were regular events held in the Wardroom ranging from film nights to drinks parties and mess dinners and on Sundays, there were trips on a banyan boat - a naval launch, often to one of the outlying islands where we could swim and barbecue.

I was expecting to return to the BMH after six months but when I was asked to go for an interview with Matron, she told me that she wanted me to stay on for a further six months and in the end I stayed for eighteen months, until I came home in September 1978.

At that time there were no female officers or servicewomen serving on board ships, of which there were four patrol craft in Hong Kong. They were converted minesweepers with their main role being to search for illegal immigrants from China. We were allowed to go on board for family sea days and it was on one of these that I was transferred at speed from HMS Monkton to HMS Beachampton via jackstay – a jolly exciting experience!

On the last Sunday of my posting in Hong Kong, I went on the usual day out on the ‘banyan’. We went out to the west and on our return, at the entrance to the harbour, the banyan master asked if I’d like to probably be the first QARANC officer to take a RN vessel up the harbour and berth it at HMS Tamar. Of course I did, and so ended a wonderful tour but I was soon to have my comeuppance with a posting to DKMH, Catterick which was a bit of a shock after cosmopolitan Hong Kong.

Judy Evans

Note: It was during my time working with the Senior Service in 1977, that the QARNNS became fully affiliated to the RN and its personnel subject to the Naval Discipline Act. It wasn’t until 1995 that officers and ratings began to hold naval rank as opposed to QARNNS rank. That is why I have referred to my QARNNS colleague as ‘sister’ rather than ‘officer’.

A FRILLY CAP, A DUSTBIN LID AND MUD, GLORIOUS MUD!! By Eileen Nolan

Anyone who has waited for their exams results to drop on the mat will recognise the mixed emotions of excited anticipation and dread! It was the same for us waiting for our SRN results at the QEMH in 1977 except that we had to wait for the post room to open.

We had been told by our tutor that our results would arrive on this specific Saturday and she gave us our orders on how to proceed when we got our results. A “Pass” meant that we had contact the tutor who would be in her office to hear the news then go straight to the Stores where we would be issued with our frilly caps and red belt. The following day, we were to proceed to the QATC in Aldershot where Staff Nurse Block would begin early on Monday morning.

A “Fail” meant that we had to contact the tutor who would advise us on submitting a resit application.

The problem was that no contingency had been made for the Royal Mail and the possibility that someone may not get their results!!!! Yes, that was me! The poor soldier in the post room looked high and low, checked every pigeon hole and even checked the bottom of the sack but alas, no envelope for me. What to do now that I couldn’t follow orders? Of course, I contacted the tutor who told me in no uncertain terms that it must have been my fault and that I couldn’t have addressed my envelope correctly! Really?

I was then instructed to pack for Aldershot but wait until Monday morning and if I passed, I had to get myself to the QATC as quickly as possible. There would be no time to collect a frilly cap or red belt. I did pass and I managed to get there in time for the afternoon session. Of course, I had to have a meeting with the tutor there who again gave me a right telling off for being late for Staff Nurse Block and of course it must have been my fault. I think my name was mud but it wasn’t the last mud I would see that week!

The week went well and we had been told we would get our badge on Friday. We were so excited as we had been looking forward to getting our “dustbin lid”, the cherished 2” gunmetal grey badge proudly inscribed with “Army Trained Nurse”. However, when we were given our badges, we looked at them in dismay. What were these little blue badges and where were our dustbin lids? We were told that they were no longer being issued and these little blue badges were the new SRN Army Medical Services School of Nursing Badge. We left the QATC feeling very deflated.

On the way back to Woolwich I realised that I was on night duty the following night and I did not have a frilly cap or red belt. Whilst I could have got them on the Saturday morning, the frilly cap needed to be soaked in starch and dried overnight in time for me to spray starch it within an inch of its life if it were to stand tall the following night. Fortunately, my room mate wasn’t due at work until Monday so she let me have one of hers and I repaid her when I got mine.

On Saturday, I spent ages starching this cap and getting the frills to stand up nicely. I then had a rest in the afternoon ready for night duty. Although not a great quality photograph, you can see how proud I was ready for my first shift as a Staff Nurse. But pride comes before a fall…….

While we had been in Aldershot, the weather in Woolwich had been wet and windy but, on the Saturday, it was good, if a little breezy. At that time, we were still living in the accommodation on Academy Road which meant that to get to the QEMH, we had to cross Woolwich Common.

I realised as I was walking across that it was a bit wet underfoot but there was a well worn path which I followed. Then disaster struck. An almighty gust of wind took my gorgeous frilly cap and promptly dumped it in a muddy puddle!

I think I was in shock as I stared at it for a moment and then had to make a decision. Do I run back to the accommodation in the hope that someone can lend me a frilly cap? If I did that, I would be late on duty (and a QA is never late) and that would inconvenience the staff I would be taking over from. Or, do I carry on and risk being charged with being improperly dressed? So, I rescued my now very muddy cap and carried on.

I was working on Ward 1 so didn’t have far to go once I had got past the reception desk. To my sheer relief, the nurse I was taking over from was a Staff Nurse and not a Sister and when she saw how upset I was she gave me her frilly cap for the night and I returned it in the morning so all was well.

Going back to the dustbin lid, the following week my room mate came in from work and I noticed she had one. Apparently, she had chatted up the Stores Sergeant and he had found one for her. She swore blind that she asked him to try to find one for me as well but he could only find one.

Whilst I was thrilled for her, I never did get my dustbin lid but despite the wording on the little blue badge, I am still proud to call myself an “Army Trained Nurse”.

Retired QARANC Nurse Volunteers at the Front-Line of the Covid- 19 Pandemic 2020-21- By Kay Foster

Experiences of Major (Retd) Kay Foster QARANC working in The Nightingale Hospital, Exeter as a volunteer.

In March 2020, I caught Covid -19 and was pretty ill at home in bed for ten days. Keen to know whether I had developed antibodies I had a blood serum test in July, which came back positive. With this knowledge I felt I wanted to make a positive contribution and as the pandemic was raging in the UK decided to apply to become a volunteer at the Nightingale Hospital Exeter (NHE). I was drawn to the Nightingale like a magnet and joined the team in August 2020.

The NHE was the seventh and last Nightingale to be built in England. It is 39,300 sq ft in floor space and built in the redundant Homebase warehouse on the Sowton Business Park site. It has five Wards, 116 beds in total with ITU capability. It has the highest specifications of all the Nightingales, one of the few to accommodate Covid -19 patients.

Chantal Baker, Assistant Director of Nursing NHE, was the senior nurse in charge of this project and when I joined her the only nurse involved. She took me on a tour of the building. As a former warehouse the building has no natural light and all the walls are painted white. Chantal wanted to brighten the walls with pictures, but was having difficulty getting the idea approved by the fire officer. I suggested murals. The comment flew out of my mouth, and before I knew it I had been tasked with organising this project. Where to start! On the way home, I popped in to visit a friend, and amazingly she was friendly with an artist who painted large canvas backdrops for local theatres. Having got funding approved, two artists where given the project of painting a wall outside each of the wards. Each ward has the name of an English flower and this flower was represented in every mural. I also contacted a local community group that used art work to assist the development of children of all ages. It was arranged that over a number of weekends children from the group would spend time painting some of the hospital walls under the supervision of their group leader. These sessions were great fun, I enjoyed being present and the results were amazing. The murals created much interest and the Medical Director commented that the Hospital could become an art gallery if it was not used for Covid patients!

Volunteers had not been used on hospital wards before and there were several meetings to discuss how to integrate the volunteers into the Hospital. Chantal wanted each volunteer to be part of the team and not just sitting on the sidelines. By the time the Hospital opened for the first admission of Covid-19 patients on the 26th November, I had fallen into the role of Volunteer Coordinator at NHE. Clover was a 24 bedded ward and was the first ward to open. It was not long before the ward was filled with patients. Initially we had 16 volunteers in total who were a variety of ages and from varied backgrounds. Several transferred across from the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital, some were Exeter University students studying science, working toward becoming doctors, psychologists, sociologists etc., others in full-time employment or retired. They were to cover 3, 4 hour shifts from 07.00hrs to 20.00hrs. The volunteers chose their own shifts. We ran an introduction course covering PPE and welfare for staff and I was always available to offer support, answer questions etc.

It was daunting at first for the new volunteers. Clover was a Nightingale ward, and you could see from one end to the other, a very different appearance from the usual hospital experience today. Mostly ill, frail elderly patients occupied the beds, many on oxygen. The volunteers were in support of the staff. They would sit with disoriented patients, set up iPads for music and TV, help contact relatives or read to patients. One manicured and painted ladies nails to their great delight. Also volunteers were kept busy helping hand out meal trays, collecting visiting relatives from the main entrance and assisting them with their PPE etc. One of the volunteers wrote a Volunteers Handbook, which was most useful.

It was not long before the NHE was admitting more COVID patients. Then a second and third ward opened. In January 2021 patients were now coming from as far afield as Poole in Dorset and Somerset. We needed more volunteers to assist on Daisy Ward and an advertisement for new volunteers was published on the web. They needed to be fast tracked, interviewed on line via Microsoft Teams followed shortly after by induction and a tour of the Hospital. Once the volunteers Disclosure and Barring Service check was accepted, they were ready to go. We had a further 13 in total. The same message came back from the volunteers time and time again "we want to help, to give back to the NHS".

I personally aimed to do two shifts per week on Clover Ward plus cover the day to day running of the volunteers remotely from home. Chantal set up MST meetings for the volunteers, where we would meet online and were kept updated with events as they unfolded.

The volunteers became an accepted and integral part of the nursing team, where they could help staff who were working a gruelling 12hr shift. In January Navy Medics and Marine Bandsmen/women were drafted into the unit to help on the Wards. Their presence assisted greatly and they were valuable support.

I have been a nurse for most of my working life and spent most of my nursing career in the QARANC. With hand on heart, I have never experienced such a total feeling of care and compassion given to patients, and regard and respect for each other. Nursing care was heavy, many patients were not mobile, a number had other medical complications, compounded with Covid, many struggling to breathe. Some needed end of life care. Nurses/HCA's working at the NHE came from the three counties of Devon, Cornwall and Somerset.

To explore the previous paragraph further it would be good to consider the 6 C’s of Nursing, with an additional 7th C, described further below:

1. Care: The attention given to patients for their needs and all welfare. Dignity was a priority and Chantal encouraged local volunteer groups to collect bed jackets/shawls and clothes for the patients. The bed jackets/shawls were to keep patient shoulders covered as the air conditioning was cool for them at times. The clothes were to wear on discharge as having been in hospital for so long they often did not have any of their own. A local dentist also provided individual mouth wash as some patients found it hard cleaning their teeth. All these things went that extra mile to assist in the care.

2. Compassion: the sympathy and pity felt for those suffering, some patients were at the end of life or just missed their relatives. Provision was made for relatives to visit by appointment and to be supplied with PPE.

3. Courage: All that worked at the hospital volunteered to be there. Courage was in their DNA. They put their health and possibly the life of themselves and their families at risk to care for Covid-19 patients.

4. Communication: Staff and Volunteers helped set up mobile telephone links with patients friends and families. Gave them iPads to watch their favourite TV programmes, or listen to their music. Sat with  patients and held their hand whilst talking with them or reading a book or paper.

5. Commitment: The staff were always around when a bell rang to attend to the patients needs. The physio’s ran daily activity classes for more able patients and on an afternoon designated to reflect on Captain Sir Tom Moore who had recently died, the more mobile patients undertook several laps of the ward on Zimmer frames, seated on wheel chairs or pushed on their beds. On sunny days patients were taken outside in wheel chairs by a member of the team no matter who they were, doctor, physio, nurse, HCA, volunteer. The Royal Marines band played music and sang for the patients. A cinema was set up for able patients to attend a short show with ice cream provided.

6. Competency: This came from the leadership of the Director of Medicine and Nursing NHE. They gave the staff a role and totally trusted their ability to do it. They created an atmosphere where all staff were allowed to thrive, enjoy their profession, bond with each other and in turn happy staff equals excellent patient care.

7. Comradeship: This was so evident. The regard and respect that all staff had for each other. We all had a common goal and worked together for that. Saying good bye to each other was a very hard parting.

“We’ll meet again, Don’t know where, don’t know when, 

But I know we’ll meet again, some sunny day". 

Vera Lynn

QAs Serving on a Submarine! By Merrill Bate

Defence Costs Study 15, led to the closure of all but one military hospital and the creation of agencies to manage secondary and dental care, and medical training. The Army Medical Services Schools of Nursing was to be no more, but I and my colleagues were determined that the high standards and quality of the pre- and post-registration nurse training we had provided over many decades would be carried on by the Tri-Service School of Healthcare Studies. 

So, it was that with a heavy heart that on 29th March 1996 I closed the door to the School of Nursing at the Cambridge Military Hospital in Aldershot and headed off with my colleagues to HMS Dolphin. ‘Dolphin’ was the home of the Royal Navy Submarine Service and location of the Submarine School and from 1996 to 1999 hosted the Defence Medical Training Organisation, the agency which was to manage all healthcare education. 

Along with QARNNS and PMRAFNS nurse teachers we had made many trips to prepare for our arrival at Dolphin. I recall in a conversation about office equipment saying that we would need ‘9’ lines in order to be able to make phone calls to civilian numbers. Imagine my surprise on walking into our office to find 9 telephones on my desk! What I hadn’t realised was that in the Navy they dialled ‘0’ to get an outside line, in the Army we dialled ‘9’!

Terminology was something we had to get used to, e.g. a call to 'clear the lower decks' means everyone was to be addressed by a senior officer while the 'upper deck' referred to officers only. The call was announced by a 'pipe' that could be heard everywhere at Dolphin.

On my first day at Dolphin, I arrived at 0730 and after clearing security I noticed other cars had stopped by the side of the road, there was no obvious reason why, but something told me it would be a good idea to stop my car as well. I am glad I did because what was about to happen was 'colours'; everyone is expected to face the mast while the white ensign is raised and if driving a car, you stop! Only when pipe sounds can you drive on. Phew, I had avoided making a faux pas on my first day! 

This picture shows where the Nurse Teachers were located before we moved to our permanent building. Our offices were surrounded by water and provided the best view of the entrance to Portsmouth Harbour. The office I shared with QARNNS and PMRAFNS colleagues had a window that looked straight out to sea and my desk was right beside it. It was quite easy to get distracted by the ferries sailing into Portsmouth, they looked as if were heading straight for us and then at the last minute changed tack! 

On 10 June 1996 we were working in the office when there was a very loud bang, in fact 21 very loud bangs which caused the building to shake and the smell of cordite came through the windows. Were we under attack? No, our offices were located very close to the area where the Royal Navy were firing a 21-gun salute in honour of the Queen’s Birthday!









Being at Dolphin provided us with a bird’s eye view of some special and historical events. One memory is standing on the roof of one of the buildings with Lauren Hurst and Yvette Whiston. We were watching the Royal Yacht Britannia leave Portsmouth for the last time. As she sailed past us, we stood to attention and saluted. This felt the right thing to do. 

We certainly made good use of the lovely seafront position. This picture is of the Wardroom. During the summer the officers would have a sandwich lunch on the terrace overlooking the Solent and the entrance to Portsmouth Harbour. A great place to watch as Royal Navy ships and ferries heading to and from France, Spain and the Isle of Wight passed by us.






A landmark building was the S.E.T.T (Submarine Escape Training Tower). Since the first man ascended the 100ft column of water to simulate emerging from a sunken submarine, tens of thousands of submariners have made the ascent along with a QA Officer’s forage cap!



On my last day before retiring from the Army I was invited to visit the S.E.T.T. On arrival I left my forage cap in the cloakroom and made my way along with the Medical Officer and the ‘rescue team’ to the top of the tower to watch an ascent. It was strange that the surface was on the 10th Floor of the tower while the bottom was at ground level.

I was told that numerous training sessions are required before submariners develop tolerance, confidence and learn not to respond to the instinct to panic. For beginners it must be reassuring to know that there were observation ports so instructors could monitor their progress as they ascended the 100ft and, escape compartments at 9 and 18 metres depth.

It seemed an age before the diver reached the surface and I think for much of that time I was holding my breath! The diver on climbing out of the water stood to attention in front of me saluted and said “Ma’am I believe this might be yours” and promptly removed my forage cap from his diving suit. My forage cap did not survive its 100-foot journey from the bottom of the tank to the top having been subjected to a pressurised slow ascent – thank goodness I would not be needing it to wear it again!



Lt Col (Retd) Merrill Bate served at the Tri-Service School of Healthcare Studies and Royal Defence Medical College from 1996 to 2002.

In 1999 HMS Dolphin reverted to its original name Fort Blockhouse when the RN Submarine School relocated to Faslane. In 2020 it was announced that S.E.T.T would close and be preserved as a listed building.