When the Excel conference centre in Docklands was converted into a hospital, it was fittingly named after Florence Nightingale. The next corona crisis hospital, at the National Exhibition Centre (NEC) in Birmingham, is scheduled to open on Friday. It had been announced that it too would be a ‘Nightingale’ hospital. But this name is now under question.
In a petition to health secretary Matt Hancock, former Labour councilor Patrick Vernon has asked for the NEC hospital to be named after Mary Seacole.
Mary Seacole is regarded by many as a Jamaican-British war hero. During the Crimean War she set up a hospital for soldiers known as the “British Hotel”. When Florence Nightingale refused to allow Seacole to join her band of nurses, Mary travelled to the front line and operated there independently. She was so widely loved for her healing powers, the soldiers nicknamed her “Mother Seacole.”
Mary inspired thousands of women and people of colour to dedicate their lives to the National Health Service. Recently the Royal College of Nursing gave full recognition to her contribution, placing her on the same footing as Florence Nightingale.
Patrick Vernon previously fought and won a campaign to include Mary Seacole in the school curriculum. In 2019 over 130,000 people voted for her to appear on the £50 note.
Pre-corona-crisis, the NHS staff roster included 72,443 employees from ethnic minority backgrounds. It is only right that their contributions are recognised by paying homage to our black British heroes like Mary Seacole.
Benjamin Zephaniah, a radical political poet who turned down an OBE in 2003, has signed the petition calling for Birmingham’s crisis hospital to be named after Mary Seacole. With 12,162 signatures the petition is gaining momentum. But will this be enough to secure a name change in the next two days?
