Carol Rawlings and Laura Chapman will be representing University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust (UHB) at Westminster Abbey to celebrate the NHS's 70th birthday on Thursday 5 July 2018.

Carol was delighted to receive her invitation from NHS England and is keen to celebrate “a wonderful career and a fantastic organisation.” She was asked to invite a colleague along too and chose Laura Chapman, Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) and Engagement Manager for the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre based in the Heritage Building.

While now officially retired after a 37 year NHS career that started in nursing, Carol still volunteers several days a week, including sitting on the national executive committee of the National Association of Volunteer Service Managers and supporting the Liver and GI PPI research group at UHB.

Carol retired four years ago today, after finishing 27 years at the Trust in the position of Associate Director of Patients Affairs. Part of her major contribution to the Trust was to establish the thriving volunteer service at Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham.

“I am passionate about the NHS, it gave me a brilliant career and is something we must be very proud of and always protect,” said Carol.

Laura, who is delighted to accompany Carol to London, added: “I’m really looking forward to the event and being at Westminster Abbey. From the perspective of the role that I have as both employee and a patient, the work that Carol and I are able to do together is a wonderful example of public and patient involvement within the NHS.”

Carol and Laura will be joining around 2,000 other NHS employees, retirees and volunteers at the Westminster Abbey service of celebration tomorrow.