CAPTION: The online service includes contributions from NHS staff past and present
Online service to say thank you to the NHS
The Bishop of Crediton is leading an online service on Sunday 5 July to commemorate the 72nd anniversary of the NHS.
The Service of Thanksgiving was filmed in the chaplaincy of the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital.
It features contributions from NHS staff, including an Emergency Care Assistant from South Western Ambulance Service.
Former NHS staff reflect on their careers in the service
There are reflections from former medics who worked in the NHS from its earliest days, including Henry Gossman, a former neurosurgeon who began working as a doctor in the 1940s and Juliana Berry, a Windrush Generation former Nurse, Midwife and Senior Nurse Advisor.
The music for the service has been specially recorded by Exeter Cathedral Choir and the worship band from Exeter Network Church.
It also features a video performance from Derriford Hospital Emergency Department’s Lockdown Choir, which the hospital kindly gave the Diocese of Exeter permission to use.
The prayers, which are based on the symbol of the rainbow, were read by children from St John’s Church of England Primary School, Totnes.
Bishop Jackie said: “If we did not know it already, in recent weeks we have seen the sheer commitment and dedication of our NHS staff.
Emergency Care Assistant Peter Otley is one of those taking part in the service
“This is an opportunity to give thanks for our NHS and to celebrate their huge contribution to our society as a whole.”
As well as the online service, the Church of England has published special prayers of thanksgiving for the NHS.
The service will go live on the Diocese of Exeter website and Youtube channel at 1000 on Sunday 5 July.
