Liz, of Knaphill, trained at the Guildford School of Nursing which at the time was based at St. Luke’s Hospital, Guildford.  Her training took her to Royal Surrey County Hospital, Milford Chest Hospital and Hydestyle Hospital, qualifying in 1975 as a State Registered Nurse (SRN).  She had initially wanted to be occupational therapist but to follow the course students had to pay for their training, and a nursing student was paid to train!  Infact she was following a family tradition as her mother, Margaret, and her grandmother, Gladys, were both nurses.

The day she qualified stands out for two reasons as her results were announced the day of her first wedding on 29 Nov 1975 , and well- wishers were as pleased to know she had passed.  Liz joined St. Peter’s Hospital on 8 December 1975 as a staff nurse on Manifold Ward (Ward 13) with Sister Mary Hill.  The old Nightingale-style 30-bed male only ward was on the right going down the Ramp.

In April 1976 Liz moved to the brand new coronary care ward situated off Ward 12, further down the Ramp on the left hand-side.  The four-bed unit was run by Sister Liz Hollister with Dr Michael Joy as Consultant Physician, who had a special interest in cardiology. By April 1977 she had become one of the hospital’s ward Sisters – the youngest at the time.

Sister Liz left St. Peter’s in February 1979 to have her daughter, Victoria who was born on 12 April 1979.  By July the same year Liz was back at work on the coronary care unit as a staff nurse – having just come in to show off her daughter and being immediately persuaded in true NHS style to come back and help her colleagues out!

Shortly afterwards she moved,  as a staff nurse, to work nights on Ward 14 (down the Ramp on left) which was a female general medical ward,  and from there she was encouraged to become a night Sister.

In February 1985 work brought her and her future husband, Simon, together in the resuscitation area of the old A & E.  The St. Peter’s A&E had been a prototype for A&E units throughout the UK and was featured in the Times newspaper when it opened in l962.  Staff Nurse Simon Longley had trained at St. Peter’s and their paths had crossed before but it was in A&E that their paths converged!

In 1988 Liz became Night Manager with responsibility for the whole hospital, and in May 1988 she and Simon married.  Their daughter, Charlotte was born on 14 February 1989 by which time Simon was a senior staff nurse at Roehampton Hospital. During his time at Roehampton he attended the Clapham rail crash.

Simon re-joined St. Peter’s in the summer of 1989 as the Occupational Health Nurse Advisor, later becoming Occupational Health Manager.

After maternity leave Liz returned as Night manager. Liz was then seconded in l997 into the Senior Nurse for Surgery role until the two Trusts merged in April 1998 when she became Manager of A & E before it moved to the new Accident Centre building in July 1998, prior to the royal opening by Prince Edward on October 15, 1998.

The eve of the 2000 Millennium Liz worked nights with her A & E staff during the festive night and at the end of the shift she had brought her camping kit in – she set up “camp” outside and cooked them all a full English breakfast to celebrate!  Thenext  night, January 1st someone lit a candle in the new chapel and inadvertently left it burning and Liz – on duty – had to rush from A & E and put the fire out with a fire extinguisher.  Liz’s mum had made the lace for the alter cloth and had made the corner crosses out of “Tatting” which she had woven using a thread and shuttle. The alter cloth is still in use.

In 2000 Liz, together with the Trust’s security manager, undertook one week’s training at Surrey Police HQ at Mount Browne and a years regular training with the police to qualify as the Trust’s first Conflict Resolution Trainer. They started the scheme which aims to ensure that all front line staff are trained to recognise potential conflict situations, defuse them, communicate with those involved and teach break-away techniques, as taught by the police.

Liz and her family have lived in Knaphill since 1976.  Her daughter, Victoria, 28, who attends the Lockwood Day Centre at Guildford.  Lottie, 19, works for White Lodge Centre for Living as a support worker in the Tree Tops respite centre. 

Outside her NHS work Liz is well known in the community for her Girl Guide work. She was with the 1st Knaphill Guide Company as their Assistant Guide Guider and she sometimes brought the youngsters in to St. Peter’s Hospital to help with the Christmas shows; give out programmes, collect the donations and leading the audience in community carol singing.

In September 2002 Liz took over as Explorer Scout Leader for the Challenger Unit in Knaphill, stepping down at Christmas 2007.  The boys and girls, aged 14- 18 years, would come into St. Peter’s at Christmas time and decorate wards and they also made the memory boxes for the bereaved parents of babies.

Liz became the Trust’s first New Matron when she moved from A & E to Hazel Centre. Said Liz: “It was the most satisfying nursing job I ever had because we did so much for those patients..  We achieved such tremendous results.  Because we put in such input some people who were supposedly only fit enough to leave hospital and go to a nursing home got up to residential home standards – or even back to their own home, with support.  We had the time and we were caring for their nursing needs. It was very satisfying.”

From there Liz, 53, did bed management and later helped on Falcon Ward (surgical) until becoming a Clinical Site Nurse Practitioner, working across both hospitals until leaving the Trust in February.  She and Simon have had a home in Cyprus for some years and Liz, who will be 54 on 22-03-08, to move there this Spring.  Simon will continue with his work as a Nurse Advisor for Active Health Partners – a sickness absence management company.

Said Liz: “I will miss St. Peter’s because it has been a huge part of my life for the past 32 years and there have been times when coming to work and being with good friends and caring for patients certainly sees a person through the sometimes difficult phases of their own daily life!

“Our wedding was Blessed in the Chapel on my 50th birthday and both the girls were born at St. Peter’s here and my parents died at the hospital.  And Victoria cared for initially at St. Peter’s until she came under Great Ormond Street Hospital.  EvenLottie had her tonsils out at St. Peter’s!

“I know, first hand, what it is like to be a nurse at St. Peter’s and to receive care for ones family at St. Peter’s and although we are looking forward to our new life, we shall miss the hospital and our friends very much indeed.”