To mark the 70th year of the NHS, staff and services users at the Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust have created a time capsule containing messages and memorabilia for NHS staff in 2028.
They attended a special burial ceremony on Monday 20 August, led by our chief executive Claire Molloy.
The aim is that future NHS staff will open the time capsule on 5 July 2028, which will be the NHS’s 80th birthday. It contains positive messages from service users about the staff who care for them, along with their hopes and wishes for the NHS over the next 10 years.
It also includes letters from Claire Molloy and our chair Evelyn Asante-Mensah OBE, an NHS 70 pin badge and special edition newsletter produced by the Trust and an old mobile phone, so future staff can see how technology has changed.
The capsule has been buried in the newly refurbished gardens of the Oldham healthy young minds service. This is a community-based child and adolescent mental health service, based in the grounds of The Royal Oldham Hospital.
Chief executive Claire Molloy said: “There is so much great work happening across Pennine Care and lots of positive changes across health and social care services as a whole.
“We thought a time capsule was a nice way to capture how things are now, so our future colleagues can see how much has changed and hopefully improved.
“Regardless of any changes, I’m confident that the NHS still has many, many years in it and lots of promise. I’m also certain that the dedication and commitment of staff will still be alive in ten years – and beyond.”
