Dame Catherine Mary Hall (19 December 1922 – 26 August 1996) was a British nurse and nursing administrator who was a long serving General Secretary of the UK's

Royal College of Nursing The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) is a registered trade union and professional body in the United Kingdom for those in the profession of nursing. It was founded in 1916 as the College of Nursing, receiving its royal charter in 1928. Queen Eliz ...

(1957–1982).

Early life and education

Hall was born on 19 December 1922 in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

, England. Her father was the chief constable in

Rotherham Rotherham ( ) is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It lies at the confluence of the River Rother, South Yorkshire, River Rother, from which the town gets its name, and the River Don, Yorkshire, River Don. It is the largest settlement ...

, which is where she moved when she was still a child. Hall went to school at

Hunmanby Hunmanby is a large village and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. It was part of the East Riding of Yorkshire until 1974. From 1974 to 2023 it was in the Scarborough (borough), Scarborough district of the shire county of North Yorkshire. ...

School for Girls at

Filey Filey () is a seaside town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. It is located between Scarborough, North Yorkshire, Scarborough and Bridlington on Filey Bay. Although it was a fishing village, it has a large ...

, Yorkshire and then went on to study nursing at Leeds General Hospital.

Career and achievements

Hall knew from the age of 14 that she wanted to be a nurse, but her parents were against this. It was after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

broke out that she began her career at

Birmingham Children's Hospital Birmingham Children's Hospital is a specialist children's hospital located in Birmingham, England. The hospital provides a range of specialist services and operates the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) for the city. The serv ...

where she started her pre-training. After this she became ward sister at

Leeds General Infirmary Leeds General Infirmary, also known as the LGI, is a large teaching hospital based in the centre of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, and is part of the Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust. Its previous name The General Infirmary at Leeds is still ...

where she was the youngest person to fill that role at age 22, later rising to Night Superintendent and Assistant Matron by age 28. Hall spent some time in Canada and the United States (1951–52) on a travelling fellowship. Hall made the move from Birmingham to Leeds where she completed her training to be closer to home as her mother had become ill. In 1954 Hall was then appointed to the position of Assistant Matron at

Middlesex Hospital Middlesex Hospital was a teaching hospital located in the Fitzrovia area of London, England. First opened as the Middlesex Infirmary in 1745 on Windmill Street, it was moved in 1757 to Mortimer Street where it remained until it was finally clos ...

following a year of study with the Royal College of Nursing. The Royal College of Nursing had to advertise twice before appointing Hall in 1957 as its General Secretary, replacing

Frances Goodall Frances Goodall CBE (8 December 1893 – 22 July 1976) was a British nurse who was General Secretary of the Royal College of Nursing and a founder of what became the Colostomy Association. Personal life and career Goodall was born in Dulwich ...

at the age of 34. It was during Hall's time as General Secretary, and under her leadership, that the

(RCN) became a trade union in 1977 which she felt was an 'essential step'. Although Hall was opposed to industrial action, she publicly criticised the governments proposed 2.5% salary hike for nurses. After a confrontation with

Enoch Powell John Enoch Powell (16 June 19128 February 1998) was a British politician, scholar and writer. He served as Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Wolverhampton South West for the Conservative Party (UK), Conserv ...

, Conservative MP and Minister of Health, Hall negotiated a 7.5% increase. Another achievement during Hall's time as General Secretary was her support of the campaign to allow men to join the RCN and the registers were opened to them in 1960 with the lifting of the constitutional ban. The first man to become an RCN member was Albery Verdun Whittamore, chief male nurse at Horton Psychiatric Hospital. It was also during her time as General Secretary that Hall opened the nursing registers to enrolled nurses in 1969 and then a year later to student nurses. Hall's contribution to the RCN was to increase the membership from 30,000 to 200,000. Hall served on many committees including between 1961 and 1963 the influential Platt Committee on Nursing Education for the RCN, led by

Harry Platt Sir Harry Platt, 1st Baronet, FRCS, KStJ (7 October 1886 – 20 December 1986) was an English orthopaedic surgeon, president of the Royal College of Surgeons of England (1954–1957). He was a founder of the British Orthopaedic Association, of ...

which published as the

Platt Report 1964 The Platt Report (1964) or the Platt Report(s) on the Reform of Nursing Education was the report of Harry Platt upon the investigations of a committee established by the Royal College of Nursing (RCN). It made recommendations about how nurses sh ...

. Key roles included: * Assistant Matron, Middlesex Hospital, London (1954–1956). * General Secretary,

(1957–1982). * Member, Commission on Industrial Relations (1971–1974). * Member,

General Medical Council The General Medical Council (GMC) is a public body that maintains the official register of physician, medical practitioners within the United Kingdom. Its chief responsibility is to "protect, promote and maintain the health and safety of the pu ...

l (1979–1989). * First Chairwoman of UK Central Council for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting (1980–1985). * Sat on the panel for the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a list of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Gen ...

Awards

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(CBE),

1967 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1967 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were announced on 1 January 1967 to celebra ...

. * Honours, 1975 – From City University in 'recognition of her outstanding services in maintaining and developing the science, art, status, standards, practice and general recognition of the nursing profession'. * She was made a Fellow of the

in 1976. * Officer Sister of the

Order of St John of Jerusalem The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem, commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), is a Catholic military order. It was founded in the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 12th century and had headquarters there u ...

(1977). *

Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(DBE),

1982 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1982 were appointments by most of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to Orders and decorations of the Commonwealth realms, various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countrie ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hall, Catherine M. 1922 births 1996 deaths People from Rotherham Health professionals from Sheffield English nurses British nursing administrators Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire Place of death missing Fellows of the Royal College of Nursing Officers of the Order of St John British nurses General secretaries of the Royal College of Nursing British women nurses