Health visitor who started working in South Shields calls time on her 50-year long NHS career
A health visitor who started working in South Shields 50 years ago has called time on her NHS career.
A health visitor who started her NHS career in South Shields is set to retire after 50 years of service.
Margaret ‘Peggy’ Oates has spent half a century dedicating her life to improving outcomes for babies, children and young people and now she is set to hang up her uniform for good at the end of October.
Peggy, who lives near Countesthorpe in Leicestershire, currently works as a public health nurse for the Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust’s (LPT) Healthy Together health visiting service.
The 71-year-old began her nursing career in 1976 at the South Shields School of Nursing, where she completed two years of the practical state enrolled nurse (SEN) training.
‘I just like caring for people’
Peggy had initially joined the Women’s Royal Air Force in 1971 at the age of17 but was discharged when she fell pregnant; however, the desire to care for people remained.
She said: “I was discharged from the Force when I was pregnant.
“I saw an advert in the local paper for these trainee nursing roles.
“I knew I wanted to do a job where I worked with people, so I applied. We got on the job, practical training – it was very supportive.
“I have always wanted to be a nurse. I just like caring for people. I chose to go down the path of working of children. They are amazing and I also love working with the families.”
After qualifying as a nurse, Peggy worked for six months on a medical ward for adults before completing her state registered nursing (SRN) training and transitioning into children’s care.
She took on several roles at the South Shields General Hospital and Newcastle upon Tyne Freeman Hospital, working on various children's wards and building her career from a staff nurse to ward sister and lead professional.
While working on the paediatric unit at South Tyneside Hospital, Peggy and her unit were awarded a prestigious Charter Mark in 1993, by the then Prime Minister, John Major.
‘The right time to go’
In 1999, Peggy’s husband, Michael, got a job in Rugby where she, her daughter Anna and their son, John, moved with him.
Since then, Peggy has worked across Rugby, South Warwickshire and Leicestershire as a health visitor, as well as a community practitioner to train other health visitors.
Peggy has stated that it is the “right time” for her to retire and expressed an immense amount of pride in what she has achieved over her 50-year long NHS career.
She added: “I have always treated the children as if they were my own – and how I would want them to be treated. I know I have helped a lot of families – it must be thousands.
“It has given me purpose to get up in the morning. It was something for me, aside from being a mother and a wife, that I really enjoyed doing. To me, it has never been a job. I love it.
“I wouldn’t retire now if it wasn’t for all the technology. But I think now is the right time to go.”
As she heads into retirement, Peggy is looking forward to spending more time reading and doing embroidery, as well as volunteering to help at a local mother and baby club.