Farewell to Joy after 37 years’ service in our A&E reception

A Team QEH member who has been the first point of contact to thousands of sick and injured patients is retiring after 37 years’ in the role.

Grandmother-of-two Joy King, 67, from Downham, says she had not given retirement much thought before her holiday to New Zealand.

But after spending 11-weeks on the other side of the world visiting her son Michael and his family, she changed her views on retirement.

She said: “I had no plans for when I would retire. I’ll be 68 this year and didn’t want to go on working forever but the time I had in New Zealand made me realise that there is more to life.

“I got married last year and want to spend more time with my husband, and I don’t want the alarm clock going off at 5.45 in the morning anymore.”

Joy’s career in the NHS began as a ward clerk at St James’s Hospital, in Lynn, in 1970.

When she returned after her maternity leave she was a part-time clerk in the bed bureau at the town’s general hospital.

And when Lynn’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) opened in 1980, Joy took up her current role, then called casualty receptionist.

She said: “I’ve enjoyed the work. For someone who got few qualifications, I’ve had so much variety in my job.

“No two days are the same and you get to have a bit of banter with some of the patients, who come from all walks of life.

“One patient who came in nine years ago still brings me a Christmas present every year.

“He’s in his 80s and always says to me ‘you saved my life’ because I recognised his symptoms when he came in. It’s surprising what you do pick up.

“Somebody said to me the other day that the hospital will miss me when I’m gone but I will miss the job more than they will miss me. It’s been a way of life for me.”

Joy’s final day at the QEH is today and she is looking forward to seeing friends and colleagues past and present at a retirement party.