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Hospital staff have been celebrating the 75^th birthday of the NHS with a series of events to mark the milestone.

Afternoon tea for long serving staff, giant birthday cakes, and the distribution of commemorative pin badges helped to create a celebratory mood for colleagues at Peterborough City Hospital, Hinchingbrooke Hospital in Huntingdon and Stamford and Rutland Hospital.

And to help acknowledge the anniversary of the NHS – which was officially born on 5 July 1948 - members of the North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust executive team joined staff across the main hospital sites to thank them for their dedication and hard work.

With no celebration complete without a birthday cake, giant NHS decorated sponges were delivered to Peterborough City and Hinchingbrooke Hospitals – before being sliced up and enjoyed by colleagues across the Trust.

At Stamford, a stunning cake depicting the town’s healthcare history in ‘book’ form was designed, baked and generously donated to colleagues by Stamford Hospital staff nurse Tami Marsland.

Other activities and celebrations throughout the day and running into the weekend included:

• Around 5,000 commemorative NHS75 pin badges being hand-delivered by the Trust’s executive team to staff in all areas of the hospitals.
• A special afternoon tea for around 30 members of staff who have served with the Trust for 40 years or more.
• Peterborough mayor Cllr Nick Sandford and mayoress, Alderman Bella Saltmarsh had the opportunity to chat to staff during an event at Peterborough City Hospital.
•  A similar party held for long serving staff was also held at Hinchingbrooke Hospital.
• The main entrance at Hinchingbrooke Hospital and the Women’s and Children’s Unit at Peterborough City Hospital were lit up in blue, in line with many other landmarks across England.
• Many individual wards and departments around the Trust staged their own NHS 75 celebrations to mark the birthday with strawberry and cream teas and decorated workplaces for staff and patients to enjoy.
• The hospital restaurants served a 1948-style menu to staff, with dishes including corned beef hash and pineapple upside down cake at Peterborough and strawberries and cream themed dishes in Hinchingbrooke.
• NHS England has teamed up with parkrun to celebrate a weekend of events under the banner ‘NHS75parkrun’ – when hundreds of people walked, jogged, ran or volunteered to marshal the 5km course. The Trust’s own chief executive officer, Caroline Walker, who will be taking part locally.

Caroline said: “The 75^th birthday of the NHS is a milestone of which we should all be very proud. It has been wonderful for myself and the rest of the executive team to chat with staff and listen to some inspirational stories from their careers within the service.

“We are lucky to share our hospitals with so many amazing colleagues who should be very proud of the care they deliver in our hospitals – and all of whom are playing their part in such a memorable occasion.”

She added: “I’d like to say a huge thank you also to the North West Anglia Hospitals’ Charity for generously funding the commemorative pin badges, cakes for Peterborough and Huntingdon staff and the afternoon tea events for our longest-serving members of staff.”