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Zz | | backgrounds. Among the other speakers was a representative of the Nottm. Trades Council, of Socialist Woman, and a shop steward of the TX<@7U who spontaneously contributed, declaring his support for Equal Pay. A really flamboyant personality, Sister Veal has a tremendous drqwing quality. Male and female nmarses from major hospitals were obviously hanging onto every work, and took leaflets to distribute to their colleagues. Privately she emphasises the frus- | trating inefficiency of the Health Service which is really the worst thing that nurses suffer from; the pretence at running a social service while continuing the old attitude that workers should work for nothing, and that nothing should interfere S, with private companies in their desire to make profits out of State run services, "The National Health Service is being rocked" she says, by every firm which supplies i drugs, instruments and linen, The linen is laundered by private firms; it just doesn't« coms back." There are patients sitting without night clothes and beds with- | out sheets. The daily newspapers quoted her as saying that nurses will do anything | for a decent meal. She refuted this, s-ying thet mrses will put pp with almost | anything for a decent meal - totally rejecting any implication of prostitution, She hopes that her United Nurses Association will eventually become the bargaining agent \ | for nurses; with it as a trade union run by murses for nurses, She herself appears to be a-political: her phone is bugged, but the only comment she | makes about this is that it's a nuisance because of the interference on the line. | But the complaints and ultim-tely the remedies suggested by the UNA mist be political. Most crucial of all perhaps is the rejection of the nursing hierarchy. This hierarchy like all others, masks inefficiency, a dislike of change, and a hostility to that free exchange of ideas and. opinions which is necessery to learning. lon Sister Veal is very mich a leader of the type that is throw up at this stage of the movement. Dynamic, genuine, politically unsophisticated (which drops her in it, sometimes) capable of inspiring great devotion, We salute Sister Veal - one of the few angry women!