After 30 years Lynne Branford is hanging up her uniform... but the family's NHS connection dating back 42 years goes on.. and on.. and on!

Lynne followed in the footsteps of her mother and now her daughters and granddaughters are also NHS girls making an incredible four generations with us.

She revealed a Ladybird Book on Nurses inspired her career choice after seeing a photo of a little girl being put in plaster... when she was just six!

She said: "I saw that picture and I thought to myself that's the kind of nurse I want to be and I have been lucky to have become a nurse. It meant I could save up for a deposit to buy my own house and set me up for life."

Lynne has worked on community and loved her time in orthopaedic outpatients (pictured with her pals) at CRH. She added: "Here, we are caring for patients who really are well but with an injury andi it's great because you can see them get better. We patch them up and watch them recover."

She admits she leaves with mixed emotions from all the years. "It's changed a lot over the years and I am delighted my daughters and granddaughters are also in healthcare. Mum remembers the days at Royal Halifax Infirmary when the trolley went round with soap, water and talc for patients. You felt like you were part of a family then and you all looked out for each other."  

Lynne's mother, Norma Hainsworth, was enrolled as a nurse for 21 years at Halifax on the Appleyard and Kitchenman wards, until she retired and now lives in Filey with Lynne's Dad. She started work in 1974.

In 1977, Lynne started at the Trust as a pre-nursing student and then went on to work as a nursing auxiliary before fully qualifying as a nurse, which included six years in Orthopaedic OPD and some years in the community.

The generations at CHFT continue. Lynne's daughter  Becky is a paediatric nurse on ward 3 (currently on maternity leave) and Zoe, pictured right, works in microbiology. Her granddaughter Aisha, 17, has applied for an apprenticeship as a health care assistant and 16 year old granddaughter Amber who begins sixth form soon to study towards a nursing degree. Lynne also has a niece who is a midwife and a niece who is an early years practitioner!"

Lynne told us: "I am leaving with mixed emotions. But the NHS continues in our family and we are all in caring professions which is lovely."

Her retirement plans include more cycling (she used to cycle to work) and plans a cycling holiday in Holland. She also hopes to return to nursing in a part time role.

Her colleagues said she would be missed for her hard work, cheerfulness and her trademark attitude at work as she "just gets on with it".

Her daughter Zoe, said: "She's a real inspiration."