Petition · past parliament
Re name all the Nightingale field hospital’s Nightingale-Secole
Rejected
21 signatures
What the petition asks
The field hospitals dealing with the coronavirus pandemic have been named Nightingale after Florence Nightingale in honour of her contribution to field medicine and nursing during the Crimean war. However this ignores the contribution also made by Mary Seacole The hospitals should bear both names.
Mary Seacole is a Jamaican British war hero who supported British troops as a nurse during the Crimean war. She was so widely loved for her healing powers, the soldiers nicknamed her “Mother Seacole.”
Mary inspired thousands of women and people of colour to dedicate their lives to the NHS. Recently the Royal College of Nursing recognised her contribution to British Nursing, publicly declaring her on the same footing as Florence Nightingale.
Mary inspired thousands of women and people of colour to dedicate their lives to the NHS. Recently the Royal College of Nursing recognised her contribution to British Nursing, publicly declaring her on the same footing as Florence Nightingale.
Why it was rejected
It asked for something that is not the responsibility of the UK Government or Parliament.
New hospitals, including their names, is a matter for NHS England and individual NHS trusts, and not the Government or Parliament. You can read the NHS's identity guidelines here: https://www.england.nhs.uk/nhsidentity/identity-guidelines/naming-principles/
You can find out more about coronavirus and how you can protect yourself and others here:
www.gov.uk/coronavirus
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/
The Government has also created an online service to help you out what you can do if you’re struggling because of coronavirus: https://www.gov.uk/find-coronavirus-support
You can read NHS tips to help if you are worried about coronavirus here: https://www.nhs.uk/oneyou/every-mind-matters/coronavirus-covid-19-anxiety-tips
You can read impartial analysis of the Government response to coronavirus and policy developments here: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/coronavirus/
You may also be interested to know that because of the large number of petitions that have been started in relation to coronavirus, the Petitions Committee has been questioning the Government about its response to the coronavirus outbreak.
Find out more and watch the Committee put questions suggested by petitioners to Government Ministers and the Deputy Chief Medical Officer: https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/326/petitions-committee/news/145767/committee-question-deputy-chief-medical-officer-and-ministers-on-coronavirus-response/
Read letters asking further questions of Government Ministers: https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/326/petitions-committee/publications/3/correspondence/
You can find out more about coronavirus and how you can protect yourself and others here:
www.gov.uk/coronavirus
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/
The Government has also created an online service to help you out what you can do if you’re struggling because of coronavirus: https://www.gov.uk/find-coronavirus-support
You can read NHS tips to help if you are worried about coronavirus here: https://www.nhs.uk/oneyou/every-mind-matters/coronavirus-covid-19-anxiety-tips
You can read impartial analysis of the Government response to coronavirus and policy developments here: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/coronavirus/
You may also be interested to know that because of the large number of petitions that have been started in relation to coronavirus, the Petitions Committee has been questioning the Government about its response to the coronavirus outbreak.
Find out more and watch the Committee put questions suggested by petitioners to Government Ministers and the Deputy Chief Medical Officer: https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/326/petitions-committee/news/145767/committee-question-deputy-chief-medical-officer-and-ministers-on-coronavirus-response/
Read letters asking further questions of Government Ministers: https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/326/petitions-committee/publications/3/correspondence/
Timeline
| 3 Apr 2020 | Petition opened for signatures |
| 20 May 2020 | Rejected by the Petitions Committee |
Key facts
Signatures
21
Status
Rejected
Rejected
20 May 2020
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Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.