WORKING AT WORCESTER ROYAL INFIRMARY, CASTLE STREET BRANCH AS MEDICAL SECRETARY JULY 1967 – JANUARY 1973 - GUEST BLOG BY DIANA LEVINS (NEE CLINTON)

WORKING AT WORCESTER ROYAL INFIRMARY, CASTLE STREET BRANCH AS MEDICAL SECRETARY JULY 1967 – JANUARY 1973

I attended Worcester Grammar School for Girls 1960 – 1965 and then Worcester Technical College 1965 – 1967 studying for an Ordinary National Diploma in Business Studies with Shorthand and Typing.

I succeeded in getting the position of shorthand typist in the X-ray Department at WRI Castle Street starting on 10th July 1967.  The salary scale was £363 - £849 p.a. and I initially started on £455 p.a.  The Consultant Radiologists at that time were Dr. John Wood and Dr. Tony Vickers.  This is a photo of me taken in X-ray Reception December 1967.

After about 9 months I applied for and was successful in getting the position of medical secretary to Dr. A. J. Popert, Consultant Rheumatologist, who had clinics at Castle Street and Highfield and St. John’s Hospitals in Droitwich.  I worked solely at WRI Castle Street.  My working week was 38 hours and I think once a month that included a Saturday morning.  Because I had RSA Stage 3 Typing qualification and RSA Shorthand 120 wpm I was able to enhance my salary by receiving additional increments for these achievements. 

The surgeons working there during my time were Mr. George Marshall (Gen. Surgery), Mr. A. C. Clarke (Orthopaedics), Mr. Nicholas (Urology), Mr. Paul Houghton (Gen Surgery), Mr. Jeremy Eckersley (Orthopaedics), Mr. Colin Windsor (Gen. Surgery), Mr. Chalmers (Gynaecology) and Mr. MacMillan (ENT). 

The Physicians were Dr A. J. Popert (Rheumatology), Dr. Atkinson (General Physician), Dr. G. Aldridge (Paediatrics), Dr. Spencer and Dr. Hall (Psychiatry), Dr. Wood (Dermatology), Dr. Terry (Diabetic clinics) and Dr. S. Kalinowski (Chest clinic). 

There were 12 medical secretaries working from a mezzanine level above the Outpatient Department with individual desks separated by glass partitions and accessed from a staircase behind the Reception desk. Jo Witherford, who worked for Mr. Marshall, was the Office Supervisor.  In the Summer it was unbearably hot and as the open windows faced onto Castle Street it was noisy not just from the traffic outside but also from the 12 typewriters and the busy out patient department waiting area below.  There was 1 telephone at the end of the office.  In the corner of the outpatient area, where people waited for transport as well as for their appointments, there was the WRVS refreshment hatch.  The Casualty Department was situated just off the waiting area until the ‘new’ Accident and Emergency Department was built at the rear of the Nurses’ Home. 

The wards then were called Bonaker, Rushout, Bates Medical and Surgical, Garlick, Wheeley Lea and Maddox (these are the only ones I remember). 

Dr. Popert had 2 clinics at WRI Castle Street on Wednesday mornings and Friday afternoons.  He was assisted by Dr. Ralph Holman and Dr. Jean Pritchard (who were both local GPs) at the Wednesday clinic and by Dr. Holman at the Friday clinic.  My job was particularly interesting because Dr. Popert wanted his secretary to accompany him round his clinics so he would dictate directly to me while examining the patients and then at the end of clinic he would dictate letters to their GPs.  The other 2 doctors dictated their notes and letters into a dictaphone.  So at the end of each clinic I would type up Dr. Popert’s patient notes and the letters to their GP from my shorthand plus the tapes from Dr. Holman and Dr. Pritchard.   I think I was the only medical secretary who accompanied their Consultant in the clinic which I found really interesting. 

When one of the secretaries was sick or on leave then we would be expected to cover for them and I vividly remember being asked to go into the ‘old’ Casualty Department to take notes one day for what seemed like 100 patients.  I ended up with so many pages of shorthand that to this day I’m not sure if I ever got to the end of them.  

Before Christmas a few of us would go round some of the wards to look at the decorations and on Boxing Day I remember going to a Christmas Show in what would have been the Nurses’ Home which had been put on by the doctors and nurses which was great fun. I also remember going to a few parties held when some of the more junior doctors were leaving. 

I joined the Medical Secretaries Association and secretaries from the hospital and local GP practices would join together for monthly evening meetings in the Board Room where Sir Charles Hastings founded the BMA, occasionally have talks or visit a place of interest locally.  One such visit was to the Worcester Berrows News building in Hylton Road and this is a photo of the medical secretaries some from the hospital and some from local GP practices, from 1971. I am centre front.

I had a good working relationship with Dr. Popert.  At the end of a clinic if time permitted he would quite often share his family news and to this day I remember the names of his 5 children.  I recall he was able to reel off pieces of poetry from memory which was very impressive.  In 1970 while studying to improve my shorthand speeds at evening class I succeeded in being awarded the Royal Society of Arts Silver Medal for the 140 w.p.m. exam.  When I met my future husband on a skiing holiday in Austria Dr. Popert was very keen to see the photos and he and his wife Mary were guests at my wedding in January 1973.

It was a very busy environment but I very much enjoyed working for Dr. Popert and there was a good camaraderie amongst the secretaries at WRI.  I left Worcester in 1973 when I got married and moved to Kent working at 2 different hospitals in Dartford.  During my interview at Joyce Green Hospital, Dartford I was informed that the reference which had been provided by Dr. Popert was the best they had ever seen.  I moved back to Worcester in 1975 and worked at Highfield Hospital, Droitwich until 1978 when I started a family.   

Diana Levins nee Clinton, July 2026

Telling Nurses’ Real and Unusual Stories Through Verbatim Theatre - Guest blog by Konrad Lepkowski

Creating a Verbatim Performance About Nurses

In our Theatre & Communities module, we looked at and learned about different types of community and verbatim theatre and their purposes. We were given an assignment to create a performance using words and dialogue from nurses, whom our tutor has invited to come in and interview my peers and me.

Verbatim theatre is when a company or a group, etc., creates a performance using words that were spoken by other people. This is used to tell audiences real stories from people who have experienced an event or events, depending on the topic and the types of audiences that the company is aiming for. The dialogue is usually taken from interviews in person or interviews that have been published online.

The recordings that they receive from interviews are transcribed into text, which can then be taken and edited for the actors to learn and practice speaking it exactly like the people who were interviewed, including every stutter, every “umm”, and every laughter to make it sound real and more authentic. This creates emotional connections between the characters and the audience.

Researching and Reading About Verbatim Theatre

Before we could do any interviews, we had to do some research because Schweitzer (2006, p. 42) stated that people who don’t do research won’t be able to “understand any of the references in an interviewee’s testimony,” and it would also make them look like they’re not putting in an effort to the work. So, it’s important to have some knowledge of the topic you’ll be talking about. I’ve learnt that there are two ways you could do this: conduct a one-to-one interview or do it with a group. With one-to-one interviews, there are no interruptions by other people, and the flow won’t be ruined. Schweitzer (2006, p. 45) believes that you’ll be able to get more information on “personal experiences and difficult memories” because the interviewee won’t be afraid of talking too much. Whereas, doing interviews with groups, you have shared responsibilities, and sometimes when discussing certain names or locations, it could “trigger a long-forgotten memory for somebody else”. (Schweitzer 2006, p. 44) This makes it feel more like a social event instead of an interview, and remembered memories could spark some more discussion and allow you to get more texts and dialogue for the performance.

Preparation for the Interviews With the Nurses

We’ve been informed by our tutor that five nurses have accepted the invitation and will come in to have interviews with us. Our tutor advised us that it’s best to get into small groups, and each group will have an interview with one of the five nurses. We needed to prepare our questions for our nurses so that we could know what experiences they had and which ones we should use in our performance. We discussed what we should ask them and decided to have some simple questions, such as: “Why did you become a nurse?” or “What was it like to be a nurse?” to get some backstory for our actors who will play the nurses. Then we decided to have some specific questions like “What was it like working during the COVID pandemic?” or “Was there a patient that wasn’t very cooperative?” to get some stories out of the nurses that we can use and put them into our performance. To make it fair, my group and I distributed all of the questions equally so that each of us would ask the nurse the same number of questions.

Meeting and Interviewing the Nurses

We’ve met Agnes, who we interviewed in one of the podcast rooms that was booked for us. We’ve asked her our questions and found out a bit about how she became a nurse. Then I asked her what it was like working during COVID, and she said that she wasn’t working when we went into lockdown in March, and it was difficult for everyone. This didn’t provide much information to us to create a scene because she wasn’t involved during that time. Later in the interview, I asked her if there was a patient who wasn’t very cooperative, and she revealed that she was attacked by a man who lured her over and hit her on the back of her head. She also said that the man actually used to hit his wife as well. Hearing this has shocked me, but this gave us information and allowed us to create a scene that looks into a negative experience that she had, but she also told us about patients who had dementia. She said that people with dementia become different, and they behave aggressively towards their relatives and family members, which is shocking to them.

Picking Out the Words and Creating Scenes and Scripts

After the interviews and got our transcripts, we’ve picked out stories that sounded intriguing. We’ve picked out three stories: where she got attacked by a man who lured her over, when she met John, who was the first male nurse, and Robbie, who was in hospital for a year after a motorbike accident. Next, we’ve picked out words that we wanted to use, and we removed some repeating texts and texts that made it sound like an interview rather than telling a story. We each then needed to make scripts for the stories that we chose. Each person worked on a story, and I was tasked with scripting the story when Agnes was attacked and when she talks about dementia. Originally, I wrote the scene where we would have a split stage, where Agnes is telling us the story, and then a couple of my peers would act and mime the actions as Agnes is speaking. I’ve also split the scene into parts, in which she will tell us about the shocking experience when she was hit, and then she’ll tell us about the people with dementia and their sudden, violent behaviours.

Putting It up on Stage

Finally, we started to put all of our scenes on its feet. Everyone who made a script for a scene had to direct it. I directed my scene with one of my peers who played as Agnes and a couple of my peers who played as a man, younger Agnes, a patient with dementia, and their relative. While I was directing, my peer who played as Agnes suggested that she should get up and go to centre stage instead of just staying seated at the table. I agreed with her because I remembered that in almost every scene, someone playing as the nurse gets up and puts themselves in the scene where they're retelling their experiences and stories. We added in lights, music, and sounds, and then we performed it to a small audience, including a couple of the nurses that we’ve interviewed. I’ve quite enjoyed this module, collecting and learning information from other people, and shaping it into a performance was quite intriguing to me.

References:

Schweitzer, P (2006) Reminiscence Theatre: Making Theatre from Memories. Jessica Kingsley Publishers: London.

Bibliography:

Jeffers, A (2017) Culture, Democracy and the Right to Make Art: The British Community Arts Movement. Bloomsbury Methuen Drama: London.

Paget, D (1987) ‘Verbatim Theatre’: Oral History and Documentary Techniques’, New Theatre Quarterly, 3(12), pp.317-335. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0266464X00002463

Schweitzer, P (2006) Reminiscence Theatre: Making Theatre from Memories. Jessica Kingsley Publishers: London.

Voices of the Ward: Bringing Nursing History to Life Guest blog by Liv Howard

Creating a performance based on real lives requires a delicate balance of storytelling and truth, making something entertaining while also remaining respectful- these are real people's stories. Our recent project focused on capturing the lived experiences of healthcare workers through verbatim theatre. This approach is designed to build respect and trust with the audience by ensuring the history we present is authentic and unfiltered. 

Verbatim Theatre…what is it and why is it important?

Verbatim theatre is a form of documentary style drama that is built entirely from the real words of real people. Unlike traditional playwriting, where a writer creates dialogue to serve a plot, a verbatim playwright acts more like an editor or a curator. They take raw material, usually from interviews, transcripts, or recorded testimonies and arrange it into a dramatic structure.

Below is a detailed breakdown of its core components and why it was such an essential component of our project: 

1. The Collection of Testimony

The process begins with "fieldwork." This involves conducting deep-dive interviews with subjects (like our interview with Jenny). The goal is to capture not just the facts of a story, but the specific way a person speaks, their hesitations, their humor, and their unique vocabulary. 

2. Performance Techniques

There are two main ways verbatim theatre is performed:

●     Traditional Verbatim: Actors memorise the edited transcript and perform it like a standard play.

●     Recorded Delivery (Headphone Verbatim): Actors wear headphones on stage and hear the actual recording of the interviewee. They repeat the words exactly as they hear them in real-time including every "um" "ah," and breath. We chose the former to create a more lived in piece as opposed to something that could become quite robotic. 

3. Why it is Important

Verbatim theatre is often called "theatre of witness." It is important for several reasons:

●     Giving Voice: It allows people who are often left out of history books (like everyday ward nurses) to have their stories told to the community.

●     Audience Connection: Because the language is natural and real, it is incredibly easy to understand. It breaks down the barrier between the "expert" and the "audience," making the history timely and relevant. 

The Podcast Room: Capturing the Unfiltered Voice

To ensure our project maintained the highest level of respect and trust, we conducted our interview with Jenny in a dedicated podcast room. We took advantage of the high-quality audio to capture every nuance of her speech. If the source material is clear, the final product is more professional. 

By recording the session, we were able to:

• Capture every detail: From any specific medical terminology to the subtle pauses in her storytelling. 

• Transcribe for accuracy: Having a written record allowed us to move away from memory and rely on the exact real words provided.

• Maintain a consistent tone: Seeing the words on paper helped us identify the unique voice of a nurse that would eventually drive our script.

The Transcript Discovery: Sifting for ‘Gold’

A fascinating part of the process was the shift between the live interview and the transcription phase. During the actual conversation in the podcast room, it felt difficult to pick out standalone stories. The flow of natural speech can be messy and winding. However, once we began sifting through the transcript, clear narratives started to emerge.

This is a common challenge in creating well-structured and concise content. While the big stories weren't immediately obvious, the transcript was filled with:

●     Vivid Phrases: Short, punchy sentences that perfectly captured the atmosphere of the ward.

●     Hidden Ideas: Small details about daily routines that, when isolated, became powerful dramatic hooks.

 Turning the large bits of text into a scene

Just as a blog post needs to avoid walls of text, a verbatim script needs to be edited for impact. We acted as curators of Jenny's memory. By picking out specific sentences and ideas from the transcript, we were able to: 

• Solve the Interest Problem: We took fragments of conversation and organised them into a useful and educational scene.

• Build a Narrative: We used internal links within her own words, connecting a comment she made at the start of the interview to a conclusion she reached at the end.

 Reflective Note: This process taught me that the story isn't always what is said loudest, often it’s found in the small, quiet sentences uncovered during the transcription process. 

Scripting the Scene: Humour as a Historical Tool

In our interview, Jenny mentioned that using humour was a vital coping mechanism for nurses who were often intimidated by their senior staff.

To reflect this in our performance, I decided to center a scene around a particularly bizarre moment from her career: the mystery of the "grassy" bedpan. 

Finding the Story in the Words

Although the scene is not an exact word-for-word transcript, it is a story created around her words to capture the authentic atmosphere of the ward. This approach helps to build authority and trust by grounding the drama in real-life industry insights.   

Key elements of the "Grapefruit Poo" script include:

●     The Problem: Jenny discovers "grassy stuff" in a patient’s bedpan that baffles her and her colleagues. 

●     The Conflict: The fear of the "Ward Sister," whose authority made the younger nurses hesitant to ask for help. 

●     The Resolution: A quick, blunt diagnosis from the Sister, it was simply undigested grapefruit.   

To make the performance engaging, I focused on a couple of technical elements:

●     Well-Structured Narrative: The scene follows a clear arc, from the initial discovery to the humorous investigation involving multiple nurses.   

●     Consistent Tone: By maintaining Jenny's lighthearted yet slightly panicked tone during her encounter with the Ward Sister, I ensured the script felt timely and relevant to her actual experiences. 

Why This Scene Works

By dramatising this mystery, we aren't just telling a funny story, we are answering a question about what daily clinical observation was really like, from patient interaction, colleague discussions and even the fearsome ward sister. 

The Final Act: Stepping into Jenny’s Shoes

The transition from the podcast room to the stage brought a new set of challenges, specifically regarding respect and trust. In our performance, I took on the role of Jenny herself. This was a significant responsibility- when you use someone’s real words to create shareable content, you are essentially acting as the custodian of their history.   

Nerve-wracking Reality:

Performing a scene like the "grapefruit poo mystery" while the woman who lived it is sitting just a few feet away is incredibly daunting. My primary goal was to ensure a consistent tone and style that honored Jenny’s experience. I didn't want to just play a character; I wanted to represent her profession with the credibility it deserves. 

Useful Feedback

Talking to her after the performance allowed us to see if we had successfully translated her "grassy stuff" story into a piece that was as entertaining and reliant on her humour that we'd hoped it would be.

Final Reflections: More Than Just a Story

Reflecting on this journey, from the quiet of the podcast room to the energy of the live performance has highlighted the unique power of verbatim theatre to inform, educate, and inspire. By focusing on the real words of healthcare professionals like Jenny, we’ve been able to bridge the gap between years of medical history and the lived human experience. 

As I spoke with Jenny after the performance, I realised that we hadn't just performed a play, we had created a living archive. By maintaining a consistent tone and style, we ensured that her memories were treated with the respect and credibility they deserve. Moving forward, I am more convinced than ever that the best way to keep history alive is to simply listen and then share those voices with the world.

Bibliography

Out of Joint (n.d.). Verbatim Theatre | Out of Joint. [online] www.outofjoint.co.uk. Available at: https://www.outofjoint.co.uk/education/verbatim-theatre.html.