Somerset mental health nurse retires after 60 years

A mental health nurse who started nursing at 15 has retired after almost 60 years of service.

Sylvia Parsons joined the NHS in 1963 and her long-standing career began when she became a nurse cadet at Tone Vale Hospital in Taunton, Somerset.

Ms Parsons then became a student nurse at the same hospital at the age of 18.

She said she had embraced all the changes that had happened over the years she had spent in the NHS. "I've loved my career," she said.

"The variety has always kept me motivated."

In 1967, Ms Parsons applied for a position at Exe Vale Hospital in Exminster, Devon, where she met her husband who was from Minehead.

"We got married in 1969 which led me to move back to West Somerset where I took up a role at Williton Hospital that I stayed in for 15 years," she said.

In 1984, she relocated to Bay Tree house in Minehead, where she enjoyed taking patients out on day trips.

"We went to different garden centres and even excursions to the Sidmouth Donkey Sanctuary, which was fantastic for our patients," she said.

"One year we ran a brilliant pantomime where the patients danced and made crafts.

"All these type of activities helped many patients to feel well enough to leave hospital and it was wonderful to know how much impact we made."

Ms Parsons eventually settled at the Barnfield Unit at the new Minehead Community Hospital where she worked up until her retirement.

"When I began my career we used to have padded cells in our units and different types of medication that are no longer in use," she said.

"I truly believe the work I've done has saved people's lives and helped them to have a more positive, happier future."

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