MORE than 200 newly-qualified nurses and midwives graduated at the Guildhall last week, including 34 who trained at the Royal Hampshire County Hospital.

The graduates attended Surrey, Southampton and Bournemouth universities, training with Hampshire Hospitals’ NHS Foundation Trust, which runs hospitals in Winchester, Basingstoke and Andover.

Each nurse received a badge from the trust which they will wear on their uniforms for the rest of their careers to show where they trained.

Chief nurse Donna Green made the presentations to each graduate in front of their families and friends in the Bapsy Hall on Tuesday, September 25.

She said: “This is always a very special evening for the nurses and their guests, to celebrate the end of their training, and the start of what we hope to be a long and happy career. “We aim to recruit the best people to our organisation who are caring, compassionate and committed to patient care. We are delighted that so many of the students have been appointed into permanent roles and will continue to work with us.” The Mayor of Winchester, Frank Pearson, was also at the ceremony to congratulate the graduates along with his counterparts from Basingstoke and Andover.