The Repair Shop 255x28 - NHS Special

To celebrate 75 years of the NHS, the team revives fourprecious items chronicling the evolution of the publicly fundedhealthcare system founded in 1948.First to arrive are twonurses who have devoted their working lives to the NHS.Approaching retirement, Catherine is the longest-standingstaff member on a children's ward at Frimley Park Hospital inSurrey, while Katie is the senior sister on the same ward.They need the expertise of metal man Dominic Chinea to gettheir hospital food trolley back on track. The Thomas the TankEngine trolley provides light relief for sick children as it'swheeled into the ward three times a day to serve breakfast,lunch and dinner. It's been a feature on the ward for more than30 years, but it is starting to show its age. It's full steamahead for Dom who needs to get the trolley back to the hospitalas soon as possible for the children to enjoy.Next, the barnteam welcomes a very important visitor who owes his life to theNHS, children's author and poet Michael Rosen. He's hopingbookbinder Chris Shaw can repair the daily diary kept by nursesand carers whilst he was in a 40-day induced coma at the startof the pandemic. The modern spiral notebook is Michael's recordof this time when family members were unable to visit. Thehospital staff were the only people in close contact with himand used the diary to relay what was happening to Michael dayby day. The patient diary was gifted to him when he was finallydischarged from the critical care unit. Along with thenotebook, Michael has brought the many letters, drawings andnotes that his young fans sent to him while he was in hospital.Currently being stored in a messy bundle, Chris gets to workto create a more fitting tribute for the thoughtful artwork,leaving the usually eloquent Michael momentarily lost forwords.Next into the barn are Dr Adrian and his daughter Lydiawith a 1960s GP's bag holding memories of Adrian's late fatherNoel. Born in Burma, Noel attended medical school in the 1950sbut came to the UK in the 1960s to escape the military regime.Once here, Noel found work as a GP and spent his entire careerdedicating himself to the NHS. His son also became a GP, andhis granddaughter Lydia is currently training to be a dentist,meaning his lifetime dedication to healthcare lives on in hisfamily. Leather expert Suzie Fletcher joins forces withsilversmith Brenton West, who needs to get Noel's old medicalinstruments back in working order.The barn's final visitors areanother NHS family. Husband and wife Bill and Kate and theirdaughter Fiona have all worked for the NHS. They've broughtalong an old wooden desk that Bill saved from being thrown awaywhen he was a student at nursing school in 1987. Bill went onto do all his studying at the desk and subsequently spent 37years specialising in mental health. His wife Kate has workedfor many years as an NHS administrator, also using the desk tostudy for her own qualifications. Now daughter Fiona is workingas an occupational therapist in an NHS community mental healthteam, something that makes her parents very proud. Woodworkwhizz Will Kirk is tasked with revamping this important littledesk in tribute to their hard work.