Healing Hands, Hidden Stories - Guest Blog by Lilly Platt

Brief overview

Our nursing stories performance was a profoundly moving experience for me from start to finish. I was able to develop and build on many interpersonal skills, such as communication, collaboration, and leadership, which gave me invaluable experience for future projects. This performance was a way for us to not only learn about the lived experiences of the nurses through the interviews we led, but also to take the information and turn it into a performance that helps others understand the impact the nurses had on the community. I hope that with this performance, we have inspired people to look further into the life-altering hardships of nursing staff and show respect for all that they have done. We created this performance using verbatim theatre to show respect for the personal stories that were shared with us, whilst additionally creating the characters we were playing as a direct representation of the people we interviewed, making them easily identifiable by the nurses when we later showcased our performance to them.

Interview group: Lilly, Millie, Josh

Nurse: Judith

What is verbatim theatre, and how did we use it?

Verbatim theatre is a form of documentary theatre created from real people’s words, which are used to explore themes and events from the people who experienced them. We used verbatim theatre by initially coming up with a list of 25 questions we wanted to ask the nurses to allow them to talk about stories they didn’t mind sharing or experiences they had. My group had the pleasure of interviewing Judith about her time as a nurse, during which we got many stories from her throughout our discussion. The interview was recorded, which allowed us to read through an entire transcript of Judith’s experiences word for word, which we then used while scripting our individual scenes.

Interviewing the nurses

The process of interviewing one of the nurses was engaging and challenging at the same time due to the fact that it was a new experience.  The task required us as a group to extract as much information from Judith in a short timeframe after only just meeting her. My group, consisting of Josh, Millie and me, worked collaboratively to prepare our list of questions and evenly distribute them among us. Unfortunately, Millie was ill the day of the interviews, making us re-distribute her questions between the two of us. During a discussion with Josh, we decided that I was the more confident talker around new people, so I took over a large section of the questions at the start of the interview to hopefully create a comfortable environment to share information. The first meeting with Judith immediately settled my worries as we sat and became acquainted by discussing the interview process. When we began our interview, we immediately found that Judith was an amazing person to learn about, as she felt comfortable sharing a wide range of stories and urged us to ask more. She promoted us to adapt specific questions in a way for her to understand and took the time to ask us questions about what we were going to do with the stories and how we were going to bring them to life. At the end of the interview, I felt extremely confident in the range of information we received from Judith, which we could then take from the transcript to help us in the rest of the performance process.

Using our findings to create scripts

After receiving the transcripts of our interview, we spent time reading through the entire thing and gaining understanding of where stories begin and end. Josh additionally separated all of the potential stories that we could use in devising some scenes, which we looked at and discussed as a group which ones we found would the most impactful or intriguing to share. Initially we picked one scene which was the ‘Lamb and Geese’ scene which josh scripted as verbatim which consisted of only Judiths actual words, in the exact way she said them. Josh took the lead in devising this scene however all of us gave ideas to create a visually effective performance. I stood in as the ‘character’ of Judith alongside a group of other students who played a chorus of geese which umbrellas as a representation of flapping wings, this was a picturesque moment that made the scene even more humorous. The rest of the scene consisted of the ensemble making animal noises such as clucking of hens and meowing of cats and finally Felix as a lamb to further prove the hilarity of the scene. The process of creating this scene from my perspective was extremely straightforward and came together seamlessly whilst also being impactful for an audience.

Devising the ‘morgue scene’

During this performance, I had the opportunity to script and devise my own scene, so I went back to the list of potential stories that we obtained from our interview with Judith and created the ‘morgue scene’ from Judith's experience of taking a dead patient to the mortuary. I picked this story as it was a direct contrast to the ‘Lamb and Geese scene’ in tonality, as I wanted to show the range of experiences that nurses go through and how they dealt with them. This story was an emotional experience for Judith, and I wanted to do this scene as respectfully as I could, which is why I only used sentences directly from the interview. My idea for this scene was influenced by reminiscence theatre, as the character of ‘Judith’, played by me, was almost looking back on the memory as Millie and Josh mimed the entirety of the scene. Additionally, with the completion of all of the scenes from every group, Alfie had the idea that all of the people playing nurses would be sat at a table together at the back, reminiscing about their times as nurses, which brought the entire performance together by emphasising the community that comes from nursing through shared experience.

Final performance

On April 28th, I completed the final community theatre performance, which I believe went extremely well. In the final rehearsal before the performance, everyone had something that didn’t go to plan. I had forgotten one of my lines, so my stress levels were heightened. However, once I sat down in my position and the nurses we interviewed came and sat in the audience, the stress I had was replaced with excitement to show what we had created back to the nurses. During the performance, when it came to my scenes, I got to look at all of the nurses, but when I was performing Judith’s stories, I looked at her, and she had the biggest smile on her face that filled me with so much pride. In my opinion, I found the entire performance went smoothly and came together into a performance to be proud of. However, if I were to do this performance again, I would possibly extend the number of stories we created into scenes and continue to work on my tonality and pronunciation to further meet the brief of verbatim theatre. In conclusion, I am proud of the work I have completed over this performance process, and the feedback we received from all the nurses was extremely positive. Judith even pulled me to the side at the end and told me I did an amazing job, which solidified that this process taught me so much.

RHS Malvern Spring Festival 2026 feature garden to be relocated to Worcestershire Royal Hospital

A feature garden from this year’s Royal Three Counties Show and RHS Malvern Spring Festival will find a permanent new home at The Charles Hastings Education Centre at Worcestershire Royal Hospital.

The garden, called “Clay: the super soil,” showcases the use of clay materials in a contemporary styled garden, with a nod to traditional artisan crafts. The garden has been designed and created by multi-award-winning garden designer, Martyn Wilson, Director of Wilson Associates Garden Design.

Joint funding from The Charles Hastings Education Centre Charity, in partnership with Worcestershire Acute Hospitals Charity, will enable this incredible garden to be carefully relocated to Worcestershire Royal Hospital following the festival.

The raw materials and structures will be thoughtfully re-interpreted to create a beautiful, accessible green space for staff, patients and visitors. Featuring a covered space and seating area to support private conversations, alongside raised planting beds, the new garden will transform the existing outdoor space into a calm and restorative place that supports people’s wellbeing.

Sophie Burt, Head of Fundraising at Worcestershire Acute Hospitals Charity commented “We are really looking forward to seeing this amazing garden reimagined at the hospital. Access to green space can make a huge different to everyone’s wellbeing, and as a Charity we work to transform spaces across our hospitals for the benefit of patients, visitors and staff alike.”

Phil Morris, Secretary to the Charity said: “The Trustees of the Charles Hastings Education Centre - CHEC - strive to provide a best-in-class, state-of-the-art clinical education establishment. The garden will enhance and complement the cutting-edge training facilities and medical museum which, already, make CHEC a unique learning space”.

The garden will also include a traditional physic garden, creating opportunities to educate on the historic use of plants and herbs in medicine. Louise Price, Museum Curator commented “The George Marshall Medical Museum already interprets some of the historic uses of plants in medicine, now we plan to plant and nurture the real thing in a garden that everyone can enjoy.”

“Clay: the super soil” can be viewed alongside other new and inspiring gardens at the Royal Three Counties Show from 12 to 14 June 2026, before opening to visitors at The Charles Hastings Education Centre later this summer.

Photo credits to Worcestershire Royal Hospitals NHS Trust.

guest post by megan kelleher: a Fictionalised Account from the Diary of a Young Apprentice

Something fun for the blog, today! A Fictionalised Account from the Diary of a Young Apprentice, by Megan Kelleher. Megan completed a placement with us as part of her MA in International Heritage Management at the University of Birmingham. She researched the lives of the people shown in the portraits of the historic boardroom where the BMA was founded, and created this lovely piece of creative writing. Enjoy!

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It’s no more than a ten-minute walk to the Cathedral from Mr Tipton’s apothecary.

The last shipment has just been packed away so when Russell and his wife call to ask if Tipton will deign to join them for the bishop’s speech. It’s the 18th of October, the Feast of St. Luke the Evangelist, and a Friday at that. Mr Tipton speaks a little more with Mr Russell, then calls me out from behind the counter. It’s been decided; we’re off to church.

I fetch my hat, and Mr Tipton’s quick to scold me on the state of my cravat. It’s redone without much fuss, and we set out, Russell and Tipton walking just a little ahead discussing the matter of a stolen horse from Much-Wenlock.  The mare wasn’t more than seven or eight years old and is yet to be returned to some relative of Mr Tipton who bought the horse not two years previously. Not one visitor to our little apothecary at St Swithen’s takes his leave without hearing the tale, but Mrs Russell seems to have, until now, escaped the minutiae, for she asks if the police have not even a suspect.

‘My dear Mrs Russell,’ my master assures her, ‘I am quite certain if you were on the case the mare would be munching on the pastures of Much-Wenlock as we speak! You see a suspect was described! Yes, yes, quite soon after the event. Francis told me himself, a rather distinctive fellow at that. A Welshman, yes, dark hair, face full of pock holes, and here’s the kicker my dear, one leg considerably smaller than the other! Well, I said to him, quite plainly, just as you and I are talking now, I said Francis how many men of that profile could there possibly be?’

Mr Russell leans in to murmur something in Mr Tipton’s ear, too quiet for either Mrs Russell or me to hear, that sends Tipton laughing quite heartily.

Mrs Russell is very new to her title, having married Mr Russell earlier in the year. She’s a young woman of twenty, in a smart brown dress and neat hat. Mr Russell turns to his wife as we approach the cloisters and calls her Anne. Anne Russell, née Chettle, practically Worcestershire gentry Mr Tipton had told me when he had gone to sign the marriage bond.

Dr John Wall, a man of forty years with a long, straight nose, and arched brow, meets us halfway up the pews and grasps Mr Russell’s hand in a genial manner.

‘Russell, good man, nice to see you. Yes, and I see you’ve brought your wife. Charmed, charmed. Wonderful weather we’re having for October is it not?’

We all agreed that the weather was unseasonably acceptable.

‘You managed to wrestle the entire household out today I see’ Russell observes, looking over Dr Wall’s shoulder towards a sizeable party surrounding a tall woman with powdered hair, and four young children.

‘Just about, just about.’ The doctor agrees, looking back towards his family, then slightly further to where the bishop is arranging his notes. His voice lowers, ‘terrible business with Maddox’s daughter.’

‘Very unpleasant,’ Russell agrees.

‘What was that then?’ Tipton asks both men – he has been remarkedly restrained on entering the Cathedral but seemed unable to hold his tongue much longer.

‘Died, just under a year ago now.’ Russell says.

‘Only eleven too.’ The doctor adds with an uncharacteristically solemn air.

‘Oh, how awful! Does he have many children?’ Mrs Russell asks, her eyes scanning for Lady Maddox.

‘Just two. Ah yes, I can see Isaac frolicking at the front there.’

We all turn to watch the boy, who cannot have been more than eight years old hurry about with a certain freedom of the limb that characterises the overenergetic child. The show is shortly brought to a close, an arm beckoning the boy back to his seat as Bishop Maddox ascends the pulpit.

Dr Wall claps Russell on the arm a final time, offers a small bow to Mrs Russell, and a nod towards Mr Tipton before retreating towards his pew. We shuffle into our own places, me, then Tipton, then the surgeon, and his wife who has barely time to wrangle her skirts into an orderly fashion before the Bishop of Worcester begins his speech.

‘Let us not be weary in well-doing, for in due Season we shall reap, if we faint not’ Maddox begins, ‘as we have therefore Opportunity, let us do Good unto all Men, especially unto them who are of the Household of Faith.’

He strikes me as an extraordinarily well-read man, his manner is engaging, his sentiments admirable, but it is Friday, our pew is a little too far back to be noted, and the bishop’s heavy stack of notes appear to suggest that Maddox has only just begun. That is to say, when Mr Tipton chuckles quietly next to me in response to some comment from Russell, I find myself straining to hear the surgeon’s next observation.

Both men are quiet for a while, in which time there is much adjusting to try and find the angle of best comfort in these harshly designed pews, but when Maddox exclaims – with a new burst of enthusiasm – ‘But see all these gloomy Clouds dispelled, and cheerful Day-Light broke in upon this dark and melancholy Scene; joyful Health succeeding painful sickness; and in the Place of dreadful Anguish, perfect Ease!’ Mr Russell shuffles quite pointedly where he sits and asks Tipton, ‘Is the ease in the room with us?’

It is only when the question of medicine is articulated by our loquacious speaker, however, when the surgeon’s mood appears to sour. He grumbles most heartily to his neighbour about quacks, and old women, and possessors of charms, and the place of medicine itself in the delicate art of healing.

‘Medicines unskilfully administered but with an Expense very heavy to their distressed Condition,’ the bishop describes, with enthusiastic sympathy, ‘Creatures oppressed with Pain and Want, languishing separately in their own dismal Cottages!’

‘It appears our good languishing people manage to find quacks to double their distress and empty their pockets not a mile beyond the infirmary’s walls.’ Mr Russell pointed out rather seriously to his neighbour Mr Tipton, who hummed as if he had heard the surgeon say a similar thing several times before.

The bishop’s speech draws to a close with a reminder as to the congregation’s own frail mortality. ‘In a few Years, possibly in a very few Days, your Body will be laid upon a sick Bed, your Head upon a dying Pillow – pause a little and consider yourself in this tremendous Condition.’

I confess I became rather overwhelmed by the prospect and, half unsure, half eager to affect the surgeon (whose cool humour had impressed me greatly) I thumped my head back sharply against the pew as if imagining I was quite abruptly upon that very sick bed.

I thought I might have seen his lip twitch.

At the very least I mustn’t have offended him greatly, for as we stood, he offered me a little advice. ‘Now, if you ever do find yourself an incurable patient so suddenly upon your death bed, I suggest you call all the quacks in the land.’ I looked up at him, wondering if this was the same man who had muttered against quacks not moments before. ‘Only John,’ the surgeon continued, with an air of mischief, ‘Promise them no money until they have cured you; and then send them to me, and I will cheerfully pay them.’

Context: see below, a news article about the stolen horse.