Ealing Hospital's Longest-serving Employee Retires

Jenny Ashe has worked there for 47 remarkable years

Jenny Ashe (left) at her retirement party with colleagues

July 14, 2026

Ealing Hospital has said goodbye to its longest-serving employee, closing a chapter that stretches back to the very weekend the hospital first opened its doors. After an extraordinary 47-year career, Jenny Ashe has retired from a role that began before the first patient ever arrived and evolved alongside the hospital itself.

Jenny joined Ealing Hospital in 1979 as a part-time receptionist, starting work on the weekend before the hospital admitted its first patient. “My first task was to go to A&E and copy the admissions into a big book,” she recalled. “There were no computers in those days. It was all pen and paper.” She would carry the handwritten list back to reception and use it to guide anxious visitors trying to locate loved ones.

Although she later secured a full-time job with an electronics firm, Jenny continued her weekend shifts at Ealing, eventually moving into A&E as a front-desk receptionist. She remained in the department for the next 45 years, most recently working as a medical secretary and personal assistant within the emergency team.

Her early years in A&E were a world away from today’s triage-led system. With no front-of-house triage nurses, Jenny took patients’ details and directed them to wait in the blue line for minor ailments or the red line for chest and head pains. She often relied on instinct and quick judgement, stepping in when urgency demanded it. On more than one occasion she jumped the queue entirely — carrying a baby straight to resus, and rushing outside to check on a semi-conscious young man slumped in a car before calling for medical help.

Jenny briefly considered retraining as a nurse, but with three young children felt the moment had passed. One of her reception colleagues did make the leap into nursing, a decision she remembers with pride. For Jenny, the hospital itself remained her vocation. “Ealing has always been such a friendly place to work,” she said. “I have so many happy memories here and it is nice to know you work somewhere that makes a difference.”

Colleagues ensured her final day reflected the affection and respect she has earned over nearly five decades, marking her retirement with lunch and a goodbye cake. For many staff — and countless former patients — Jenny was one of the first faces of Ealing Hospital.