Dedicated staff at West Middlesex Hospita l have clocked up more than 900 years of service between them.

The team of 56 employees made up of nurses, managers and midwives were each rewarded for putting in over ten years of service.

Their hardwork and commitment was celebrated at the annual Long Service Awards held at the hospital, last Wednesday (5).

The longest serving staff member at the ceremony was patient affairs manager, Chris Lewis, from Shepperton who has worked at the Trust for 41 years, this April.

He said: “I have carried out many roles in my time here; I started out in the x-ray department as a messenger, then a clerical assistant before joining the finance department where I have had various roles before working in the patient affairs office.

"It has certainly gone very quickly and I’ve always enjoyed working here.”

There were 56 members of staff who attended the event which recognised people who had achieved significant milestones of 10, 15, 20, and up to 40 years of service.

Diane Pursglove from Chiswick who has worked in the hospital pharmacy department for 30 years, said: “Funnily enough I started here in a temporary position, since then I have worked with many people and have made a lot of good friends.

"I have seen the hospital change a lot and I have also had a few family members work here over the years; there have been many good times, and some sad times but on the whole, I have enjoyed my time here. “

Susan Nugent from Isleworth collected her award for over 15 years service as a midwife although she actually started her career at the hospital over 30 years ago, before taking a break to raise her two daughters.

She said: “I came back to the Trust in 1998 as a neonatal nurse and returned to practice midwifery a year later; my colleagues are all very friendly and I really enjoy my work as a community midwife.”

In total 144 staff were commended for their service to hospital.

Nina Singh, Director of Workforce and Development, said: “West Middlesex is a hospital where many staff choose to stay with us and form part of the local community.

"That’s quite special for a London hospital and we hope to preserve that.

"We see the importance of formally recognising the achievements and loyalty of our workforce and this ceremony gives us the opportunity to publicly thank staff and acknowledge the service they have given over many years.”