Local nurse retires from NHS after 45 years of service
A nurse who worked on the Mary Wilkinson Ward at Dewsbury and District Hospital has retired after 45 years of service with the NHS.
Shan Lamptey, lives in Huddersfield and has worked for the South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, which provides specialist mental health and learning disability services for local people, in its varying forms for the last 35 years.
During her time Shan has seen many changes take place including the introduction of computers and the creation of specialist mental health services.
Shan started nursing in 1975 and moved to the Dewsbury and District Hospital from St Luke’s in Huddersfield. In Dewsbury Shan was responsible for starting a service for mother’s who had post natal depression. However, due to the varying age groups on the same ward the service was dissolved and Shan went on to work with a new dedicated older people’s service. This specialised service, which still exists, offered a better quality of care for service users with care focused on older people alone.
Shan said, "Care improved immensely as the services evolved and developed. It was fantastic to be part of this service creation and I enjoyed my time with the older people’s service hugely."
Despite the huge changes that Shan saw take place around her she embraced the change and she saw it as a positive thing as it created an improved mental health service and more specialised care for different age groups.
Now having retired Shan is travelling to Australia for three months to reunite with her brother whom she hasn’t seen in 29 years.
Shan added, "My brother emigrated in the 1960s as part of the ‘£10 Poms Scheme’ and I haven’t seen him since. I am going over in June to see him and family that I have never even met! It’s going to be fantastic!"
Despite some exciting travel plans ahead of her Shan looks back fondly on her time with the NHS. She concluded, "The NHS has been a huge part of my life over the years and I will be sad to leave it all behind me. I have seen many things change and staff come and go, but I leave behind a team who are dedicated to improving the lives of older people with mental health problems."