A nurse who has spent 45 years helping to look after the people of Dover will finally hang up her uniform at the end of this month.

Roz Mallory started working in the outpatients department of Buckland Hospital in 1977, as a 21-year-old newlywed, and estimates she’s cared for at least 50,000 people since then.

When she started, there were no computers in the hospital, and patient appointments were marked in a paper calendar.

Notes were also handwritten and her uniform included a cap and pinafore.

Decades on, much has changed - including the hospital, with the new Buckland opening in 2015 - but Roz still puts patient care at the heart of everything she does.

She said: "I love talking to the patients and looking after them - it’s why I wanted to become a nurse and it’s still the best part of the job.

"When I started I didn’t imagine I’d still be here 45 years on, but every day is different and I am always learning something so there was no need to move on.

"We have different clinics, so we work with different doctors and in different specialities, and the team here are fantastic, so I couldn’t imagine working anywhere else."

Roz, whose daughter also works for East Kent Hospitals, in the IT department, even continued to work during treatment for breast cancer 20 years ago.

Several members of the team were inspired by her courage and shaved their heads to match hers, helping to raise hundreds of pounds for charity.

She said: "Being at work helped me cope - I would have chemotherapy on a Friday, do my weekly shopping and be back at work on the Monday.

"When I had radiotherapy I’d work in the morning, have the treatment in the afternoon and be back at work the next day.

"I was lucky that I didn’t feel ill with the treatment, and I had my operation at Buckland so I had lots of visitors when I was on the ward.

"I’m always happy to share my experience with patients when I’m working in the breast clinic.

"They often feel really frightened or apprehensive about the treatment ahead so I try to reassure them and often they come back and say it was exactly as I described."

Retirement doesn’t mean Roz will stay away from the hospital - she’s hoping to volunteer in the Friends shop there.

She said: “I will miss the team, the consultants and the patients - so many people stop me in the street or the supermarket, and once I found myself on a sunbed in Spain next to a patient.

"It feels like the years have flown by and I think it’s going to be really strange for a while to be retired.

"But I’m sure I will find plenty to keep me busy!"