Mary Seacole statue

[Magpie]

Wow - there's a heated argument going on about this very expensive statue of Mary Seacole outside St Thomas' hospital. It will be taller than that of either Florence Nightingale or Edith Cavell. There is a big dispute about whether or not she was actively engaged in army nursing, being more of a business woman who set up a "British Hotel for Soldiers" where she sold food and wine. There are all sorts of false claims that led to this statue:
"That she was mentioned in dispatches" - untrue. She undertook 3 battlefield excursions only after selling her wine and sandwiches to spectators
"she was not a pioneer of nursing"
Apparently British institutions were " taken in" by the Seacole campaign: the BBC was forced to retract claims made in its Horrible Histories programme, the National Portrait Gallery ( which advertises her as a medal winner, the Dept of Health ( which gives her credit for Nightingales achievements as a healthcare pioneer) and unbelievably the Chancellor of the exchequer who gave £480,000 for the statue!!!! It should not be placed outside Nightingale's own hospital.
Many members of the Nightingale Society have joined with others at this outcry.
Perhaps all of these outraged people would like to show interest in the preservation of memories, histories and badges of our old hospitals!!

[Sarah Rogers]

Yet the Nightingale Society insist on hats to be worn with scrubs at the Westminster Abbey ceremony!!!

[Magpie]

Unbelievable!!