A BRADFORD woman, who was one of the very first NHS nurses after the healthcare system’s formation in 1948, has said that the current crisis is unlike anything she ever saw in her 45-year-long career, but is still hopeful that the country can “get through it and move forward."

Mary Eileen Creswell, known as Eileen, started her career when the NHS was first formed and rose through the ranks from a sister to a charge nurse, after moving to Bradford from Ireland as an 18-year-old.

Eileen, who is now 91 and lives at Cottingley Hall Bupa Care Home in Bingley, says that today’s healthcare workers are dealing with “an awful lot of responsibility” in the wake of COVID-19.

“They must be under a lot of pressure to do everything correctly”, she said.

“I can’t remember anything like this when I was a nurse. I remember things like chickenpox going around, but I can’t remember everyone having to wear masks. There was nothing major like this.”

Eileen was born in Ballina - a small town in County Mayo - and grew up on a farm, leaving school at the age of 15 with no qualifications.

A shortage of jobs in the area, coupled with the fact that her aunty was already living in Bradford, brought her across the Irish Sea after World War Two.

As one of the first NHS nurses, an 18-year-old Eileen trained at St Luke’s Hospital, before becoming the night sister at Woodlands Orthopaedic Hospital, Rawdon, where she was the nurse in charge for over 25 years, earning the nickname ‘Mother’.

“I never had much of an education, I left school at 15, and there weren’t many jobs in Ireland at the time”, Eileen said.

“My aunty and her husband, who was a detective sergeant, were living in Bradford, so I stayed with them. I worked in a mill for six months, but I wasn’t keen on that. There were a lot of Irish nurses in Bradford then, so my aunty said to ask for jobs at St Luke’s Hospital.

“I had four years of training at St Luke’s - we had training in the week, and on Sundays we’d go into the wards. I was put in charge very quickly - before I was even qualified, I’d already been working for three years. We just went from students to being on the wards.”

Eileen, who later moved to Avenue Road, West Bowling, acknowledges that things have changed drastically from those early years of the NHS.

“Nursing is much harder now, you have to be a lot more qualified. You have to really go through the mill, you have to go to uni first, it’s totally different.”

Not only was Eileen’s profession different, but she said Bradford itself was unrecognisable.

"I used to have a car and I could park on any street, anywhere in Bradford. There were hardly any cars back then. It was a simpler time.

“Ladies would always wear long coats and hats, and I loved my hats. No one went out in tatty clothes, you would always dress up, no matter where you were going.”

Eileen worked until her retirement in 1993 - at the age of 64 - even amid tragedy.

“I got married at 23, but my husband died of cancer in 1960, when our eldest son was nearly seven and our other son was one-and-a-half.

“It almost made our eldest son the man of the house. I was lucky I had my job at Woodlands to still provide. Our neighbour looked after the boys while I was working and was always there for them, no matter what.”

With strong restrictions placed on care home visits, Eileen is one of many unable to spend time with loved ones.

“I can’t see my four grandchildren either, as they’re all in London, but I saw my sons from a distance recently, which was nice. They stood outside and we talked. So I’m lucky, because there are people worse off.

“If you’re locked up at home and you don’t talk to anyone for a long time, that must be very hard, but hopefully the country can get through it and move forward.”