Staff at a Heswall care home have celebrated International Nurses Day by holding a special coffee morning for its trained nurses.

The Hazelwell in Oldfield Road organised a socially-distanced get-together with its nurses and presented them with gifts for all their hard work, particularly over the last 14 months during the COVID-19 pandemic.

International Nurses Day is celebrated every year all around the world in the month of May to commemorate the anniversary of Florence Nightingale's birth, on May 12 1820, and to mark the contribution of nurses everywhere towards people's health.

Florence Nightingale, who died in 1910, is considered to be the founder of modern nursing and was hailed as a heroine in Victorian times for her work to help the wounded in the Crimean War.

The Hazelwell has itself a special connection with nurses, having been built on the site of the nurses' accommodation from the former Cleaver Hospital.

The hospital treated patients living on Wirral and surrounding areas for more than 80 years.

It originally opened in 1902 and was known as The Cleaver Sanitorium, named after Mr HP Cleaver who was the inspiration behind the Hospital's construction. It was a children's hospital for 17 years and during the second World War when the children were evacuated, adults were admitted.

The site was considered hugely beneficial for long term illness, due to its location not far from the River Dee. The air here was reputed to be pure and was believed to help restore the health of patients suffering from tuberculosis.

The hospital itself closed in 1983, the land was then sold in 1988 and the hospital demolished. The remaining nurses' accommodation was redeveloped into a care home at the time and subsequently taken over and, following a £5.5m investment, re-opened in 2016 as The Hazelwell, which offers residential, residential dementia, nursing, palliative and respite care.

Care home manager Sue Alexander said: "We are delighted to have marked International Nurses Day with a special COVID-secure coffee morning with our specially-trained nurses for all their amazing work during their time at The Hazelwell.

"Our nurses are extremely dedicated individuals and do an absolutely fabulous job, especially since last Spring, and are highly thought of by our residents. We feel it was important to us to show our gratitude on this special date for not only our nurses at The Hazelwell but everywhere."

For more information call The Hazelwell on 0151 342 9654, email [email protected] - or visit the Hazelwell website here.