NHS marks couple's 45 years of service together

John and Sandy Ellington, who married in 1982, have each worked for North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust for 45 years

A couple have been commended after clocking up 45 years' service together for the NHS.

John and Sandy Ellington were presented with long service awards by North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust.

Mr Ellington, a medical equipment manager, and Mrs Ellington, a medical equipment co-ordinator, work at the trust’s main sites in Peterborough, Stamford and Huntingdon as well as its community sites at Ely, Doddington and Wisbech.

“This hospital has given me everything in life – happiness, wealth, security and a wife. You don’t need anything else," said Mr Ellington.

The trust has recognised the couple with long service awards

The two married in 1982, having first met a year earlier when Mr Ellington was a patient after suffering a motorbike accident.

Mrs Ellington walked by at the point that he grabbed a doctor by the tie and shouted in pain.

'Loving every minute'

They worked together for the next 30 years in theatres.

Mr Ellington joined Peterborough District Hospital as a theatre technician after a year in the Royal Navy.

Having completed her nurse’s entrance exam in 1979, Mrs Ellington trained at the hospital, starting as an enrolled nurse in theatres.

She had wanted to become a nurse since she was a child, when she surprised her mother by taking a homeless person who had fallen over into their kitchen and dressing his wounds.

Working alongside her husband, one of Mrs Ellington's main roles is to cover the Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) wireless system tracking of the location of the trust’s medical equipment.

"It’s been 45 years this year at the trust and I’m still loving every minute," she said.