Mark Bostridge at the erection of a statue to Mary Seacole at St Thomas' Hospital in London. In interviews Bostridge explained that he was not opposed to a statue to Seacole but to the siting of it at the hospital where Florence Nightingale founded her nurse training school in 1860, influencing the development of nursing throughout the world. Bostridge argues that Seacole was not a "pioneer nurse" as some of the statue campaigners maintain. He also points to the way in which Nightingale's enormous contributions to public health are now commonly and mistakenly attributed to Seacole by a wide range of British
Nursing in the United Kingdom a Royal College and a trade union. This dual role was the subject of debate in 2013, and there was a vote on dividing the RCN to form two organisations. 99.4% of voters did not want to divide. Other trade unions that represent healthcare workers are Unite the Union, UNISON and GMB. Royal College of Nursing is a membership organisation and trade union. The Queen's Nursing Institute (QNI) is a registered charity, which until the 1960s trained district nurses. Guild of Nursing – A newly formed body that aims to represent Nurses. The Florence Nightingale Foundation supports nurses and midwives