AS celebrations for the NHS’s 70th birthday take place across the country, families from south Essex have come forward to praise the institution.

Last year, Lillie-anne Jane Jones, three, of Tyrell Drive, Southend, had to undergo a major operation at Great Ormond Street Hospital to remove a large tumour around her spinal cord and the left side of her brain.

After spending nine months in hospital, she is now home and doing very well according to her mum, Rachel Kerr.

Rachel was full of praise for the health service. She said: “The NHS saved her life.

“Her care in the three hospitals she was at was amazing and so supportive - if it wasn’t for great Ormond Street Hospital, Basildon Hospital and The Children’s Trust for Brain Injured Children, she wouldn’t be here now.

“When she had her nine hours of brain surgery, her surgeon did her hair into a French plait so he didn’t have to cut any of it off.”

Another person full of praise for the NHS is campaigner Lucy Watts, 24, of Benfleet, who has Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, a condition which affects connective tissues in skin, tendons, ligaments and bones.

She relies on a wheelchair and fights a daily battle against bouts of chronic pain and fatigue, needing 24 hour care.

Lucy has praised the health service for everything it has done.

She said: “I’m alive thanks to the NHS. I was born into the NHS and I’ve survived beyond my prognosis thanks to it too.

“My care has been excellent.

My doctors see me as a person with a life to live. In 2012, I was told I wasn’t expected to live another five years, and I’m still here - which I put down to the NHS.

“I’ve also overcome 12 battles with sepsis thanks to the NHS. I have spent a lot of time in hospital over the years, and overcome the odds many times, thanks to our NHS. If I lived in a country without the NHS, I simply wouldn’t have survived.”

St Pierre School recorded a song to celebrate the event

Lucy, along with her assistance dog Molly, was invited to take part in the NHS celebrations at Westminster yesterday and also appeared on BBC News to talk about the health service.

She said: “It was a real celebration of the NHS, but also about the key principles underpinning it and how it’s our finest institution.

I feel so privileged to have been able to go.”

MPs also spoke of their support of the NHS. David Amess, MP for Southend West, said: “Long may the NHS, which is the envy of the world, continue to be a free service. I would like to thank and pay tribute to all the women and men who work in the service and have kept it running for the last 70 years.”

Mark Francois, MP for Rayleigh and Wickford, said: “The NHS is staffed by dedicated professionals.

“I wish all of them and the service a very happy 70th birthday.”

Save Southend NHS Campaign Group celebrates NHS staff

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THERE were celebrations outside Southend Hospital as the Save Southend NHS Campaign Group joined the NHS birthday event.
The group had banners, cakes, balloons and songs for the health service. Mike Fieldhouse, secretary of the group, said this was to raise awareness of cuts proposed to the NHS.
He said: “It is a fantastic institution and a great achievement from the post war Government. It is unique in the world by the way it is run and it is very important as everyone can get first class treatment. If the cuts that are proposed go ahead then it will mean so many people will have to travel for treatment.”

School dedicates song to NHS staff

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Pupils have recorded their own song dedicated to the NHS.
Youngsters at Saint Pierre School, in Leigh, recorded a song celebrating the NHS.
Headteacher Christopher Perkins said: “The pupils chose their own topic for this piece of persuasive writing, and they were all passionate about saving the NHS.
“I think this comes across magnificently in the lyrics of the song.
“At Saint Pierre School we try to encourage pupil-led study across all subjects.”
Kurt Davies, proprietor of St Pierre School, said: “I am very proud of the children for singing so passionately about a very topical local issue.”
The song has received a warm welcome from members of the community with many commenting it “brought a tear to the eye” and complimenting the youngsters on their singing.