Derbyshire council leader hails Florence Nightingale on bicentenary of her birth

2020 has been declared the Year of the Nurse and Midwife by the World Health Organisation to mark the bicentenary of Florence, who spent much of her life in Derbyshire.

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And following the launch of the county council’s Derbyshire Spirit campaign to recognise the commitment and dedication of key workers across the area, the authority’s leader councillor Barry Lewis is highlighting the links between the work of Florence, the founder of modern nursing, and the work going on to care for the sick and vulnerable today.

Coun Lewis said: “The strength and determination shown by Florence Nightingale in campaigning for better sanitary conditions and reforming healthcare is perhaps one of the earliest examples of the Derbyshire Spirit we see living on today.

“It seems ironic that at a time when we were expecting to encourage visitors to Derbyshire to celebrate the 200th birthday of Florence, her legacy continues with the advent of Nightingale hospitals to support the coronavirus effort and the hard work and commitment of every nurse and care worker who selflessly put themselves at risk to benefit others at a time when we’ve never needed them more.

“It’s fitting that International Nurses Day, observed annually on May 12 to commemorate the birth of Florence and highlight the important role of nurses in health care, is now upon us, and I would like to pay tribute not only to Florence but nurses and care workers across Derbyshire and beyond for their continued efforts to keep us safe at this most difficult and challenging time.”

Florence was born on May 12 1820 and spent much of her life in the village of Holloway, at Lea Hurst – her family’s summer home.

Despite opposition from her parents, she became a skilled nurse and hospital administrator.

It was her night rounds that established her image as the ‘lady with the lamp’.

Florence went on to achieve many reforms in public sanitation and nursing, as well as in healthcare in the British Army.

She founded the Nightingale School of Nursing at St Thomas’s Hospital, London.

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