Nurses from Shropshire’s two acute hospitals have welded items of obsolete hospital equipment onto a sculpture that is being created to mark 70 years of the NHS.

The unique heart sculpture, which is being created by The British Ironwork Centre in Oswestry, will be unveiled at The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust’s (SaTH) Charity Fun Day on Saturday, July 7.

It is being created by Shropshire artist Luke Kite and on Friday, May 25 a number of off-duty nurses from The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH), which runs The Royal Shrewsbury Hospital (RSH) and Telford’s Princess Royal Hospital, helped make some of the items onto the sculpture.

Old pieces of equipment that can no longer be used or repaired include: obsolete blood pressure monitors, parts of hospital beds, surgical hands, microscopes, a former anaesthetic machine and wheelchairs.

Karen Breese, clinical specialist nurse for dementia, who welded a broken part of a wheelchair onto the sculpture, said: “It is looking amazing and I am thrilled to have had the chance to play my part creating it.

“I have never welded anything in my life so this was a totally new experience for me. It was great fun and I am told I did a good job. I look forward to finding the piece I did when the sculpture is unveiled to the public.

“The sculpture is being designed as a heart to reflect the nation’s love of the NHS and I think everyone is going to love what the artist has produced. It is so exciting!”

When welding the items onto the sculpture the nurses were supervised by Clive Knowles, owner and managing director of the British Ironwork Centre.

He said: “Think NHS, think hospitals and you think nurses. They are the ones who care for us and our families when either we or someone we love is taken to hospital, so to have a few of them join us today to help create this very special sculpture is most fitting.

“We are creating something that will stand the test of time and not only reflects our love for the NHS but also the kind, caring and hard-working people who work at SaTH. Today we have done one better by getting some of those wonderful people to help produce the sculpture.”

The sculpture will be unveiled as part of the official opening of SaTH’s Charity Fun Day, which will celebrate 70 years of the NHS will raising funds for the organisation’s Live Well With Dementia Appeal and The Swan End of Life Care Appeal.