Black Nurses: The women who saved the NHS aired on BBC Four on Tuesday night and left viewers moved, as nurses recalled their horrific experiences of racism.
The documentary tells the story of the thousands of Caribbean and African women who came over to the UK around 70 years ago to help save the then ailing health service.
Doing so, though, the nurses had to deal with racism both inside and outside of their workplaces, all while striving to progress in their career, gain their medical qualifications and fight for national recognition.
Recalling their experiences, one nurse spoke of how she was beaten up by a group of 10 men – Teddy Boys as they were known back in the 1950s – while she had stopped at a fish and chip shop to pick up dinner after her shift.
Jean Gay – a former psychiatric nurse from Barbados – said: ‘There was a group of Teddy boys about 10 of them, they knocked the fish and chips out of my hand.
‘I remember being pushed and kicked and so on… I decided to ignore the blows, I was kicked in places I didn’t know I possessed.’
Choosing to fight back, Jean poked one of the boys in the eye: ‘He swore, they all ran after that. Even though it was all those years ago… I can still visualise it. It’s quite horrible.’
The nurses also had to deal with patients refusing to be treated by them because of the colour of their skin.
Another nurse Allyson Williams – a former midwife from Trinidad – said: ‘They never prepared you for how the patients were going to treat you, they’d slap your hand away and say, “your black is going to rub off.”‘
‘This man called me black b*****d and I just screamed at him, I said, “Oh I am just so sick to death of you, now tell me something I don’t know,”‘ she recalled.
Daphne Foster – a former midwife from Jamaica – added: ‘I knew I couldn’t change being black and as long as my behaviour, my care was impeccable… you couldn’t find anything to complain about my care.
‘If you complain about me being black, there’s nothing I can change about that. I’m a black woman, who happens to be a nurse, caring for you.’
Wish this had been more advertised @BBCFOUR really good and powerful watch.. anyone that would refuse care based on the colour of the care workers skin, does not value their life #BlackNurses #TheWomenWhoSavedTheNHS https://t.co/wYAA9y5X9I
— jaleesa wellington (@Iam_Jaleesa) July 7, 2020
Hearing their stories moved viewers at home, who described the documentary – that had originally aired on the BBC last year – as both ‘beautiful’ and ‘heartbreaking’.
‘#BlackNurses What a great programme – some things have changed, some haven’t. Despite the direct and indirect prejudice, the professionalism of these nurses was not diminished @BBC4tonight,’ tweeted one viewer.
Another posted: ‘#blacknurses best thing I have [seen] on TV for years. These women are total heroes and need [our] respect. Thank you so much xxx.’
One viewer said they wished the programme had been given more recognition so that a wider audience could have tuned in.
They tweeted: ‘Wish this had been more advertised @BBCFOUR really good and powerful watch.. anyone that would refuse care based on the colour of the care workers skin, does not value their life #BlackNurses #TheWomenWhoSavedTheNHS.’
Black Nurses: The women who saved the NHS is available to watch via catch up on BBC iPlayer.
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