Ryde Hospital honours its Pink Ladies

RYDE Hospital has celebrated a milestone for a devoted band of women whose 50 years of service has made them an institution too – the Pink Ladies.

Pink Ladies president Joyce Villiers and members Elaine Collis and Margaret Chapman. Picture: Virginia Young

• Male nurse tops peers in honours
• Patient numbers jump at Ryde Hospital

RYDE Hospital has celebrated a milestone for a devoted band of women whose 50 years of service has made them an institution too – the Pink Ladies.

Management paid tribute to the volunteers at a 50-year anniversary lunch at the hospital on Thursday.

It was August 11, 1966, when a group of men and women held the first meeting of the Voluntary Workers Association at what was then the Ryde District Soldiers Memorial Hospital.

Since then, the Pink Ladies – a term first coined for Hornsby Hospital’s volunteers, who wore pink smocks – have helped ease employees’ workloads by answering phones, escorting patients and raising funds.

Pink Ladies president Joyce Villiers hoped the group’s 36 members could carry on the tradition.

“We are walking in the footsteps of 50 years of the Pink Ladies and I hope we continue to do their jobs for a few more years yet,” she said.

The North Ryde woman is one of those who has helped visitors at reception, knitted toys for fundraising, among many other acts.

Those efforts have helped many people and the Pink Ladies have themselves helped Mrs Villiers.

“My life changed dramatically 30 years ago when my husband (Albert) died,” she said.

“I did work with the church and Lifeline, and then someone suggested the hospital.”

Serving with the group helped Mrs Villiers find direction after the loss of her husband.

“It’s given me meaning to my life,” she said. “I feel like I’m putting something back into the world.”

The Pink Ladies have also seen considerable change at the hospital.

One of the most noticeable has been change to maternity services.

Mrs Villiers recalled the maternity ward being large years ago and a place where some mothers stayed for 10 days.

These days, the hospital provides services only for low-risk births, and mother and child leave much sooner.

“That’s a shame because we never see the babies,” Mrs Villiers said.

The hospital’s director of nursing and midwifery Brian Bonham said the Pink Ladies were highly valued.

“The dedication of our Pink Ladies is second to none, as they work to achieve their fundraising contributions and assist where possible to lighten the load for our clinical and nursing staff,” he said.