Elizabeth Summers joined Northampton General at 16 in 1974 and led its cancer nursing for 26 years. She retired on 29 October after 52 years at the hospital.

Elizabeth Summers, Northampton General Hospital’s lead cancer nurse, has retired after 52 years at the hospital. She started there in September 1974, aged 16, as a pre-nursing student. Her last day was 29 October. (Northampton General Hospital, 3 November 2026)

Apart from a spell of specialist cancer training at the Royal Marsden in 1983, she spent her whole career at Northampton General. She had been lead cancer nurse for the last 26 years.

What changed on her watch

The hospital credits her with a long list of changes to cancer care in Northampton:

  • working on Talbot Butler, the hospital’s first specialist cancer ward, from the start
  • helping the hospital become a recognised cancer centre in 1994
  • starting a hair and beauty service in the 1990s for patients losing their hair to treatment
  • building teams of specialist nurses, allied health professionals, and end of life and palliative care staff
  • the Macmillan pre-habilitation service, which helps patients get fitter before treatment
  • 13 years of pushing for a Maggie’s cancer centre at the hospital, which opened in October 2025

The wig service started with a complaint. “I remember vividly talking to patients who had lost their hair through their cancer treatments and complaining that our wigs were ‘like a cat sitting on their heads’,” she said.

In July 2023 she became the first member of staff at the hospital to win the Chief Nursing Officer for England’s Gold Award.

A surprise send-off

About 50 colleagues and friends, past and present, gathered at the Maggie’s centre on 28 October for a party she did not know about. “I wanted to sneak out quietly without anybody knowing,” she said.

Consultant haematologist Robin Sheppard first met her in 1975, when he was a patient and she was a 16-year-old nursing cadet. “Over the years, she hasn’t really changed,” he said.

She was also given a Chief Nurse Commendation award that day for her 26 years as lead cancer nurse.

Director of nursing Joanne Smith said she had “been a powerful advocate for people living with cancer and their families”.

What it means for you

Two of the services she named as her proudest work are open to patients starting treatment at Northampton General:

  • the hair and beauty service, for advice and support with hair loss
  • the Macmillan pre-habilitation service, where therapists and dietitians help you get as fit as possible before treatment

Ask your cancer team about either.