Paintings by patient donated to ward in his memory
Two paintings by an amateur artist have been donated to a ward at Basildon Hospital, in recognition of the care he received.
Colne Ward, part of the Essex Cardiothoracic Centre (CTC) at Basildon Hospital, has received a donation of two paintings from the family of local artist, Bill Filds.
Bill, from Corringham, was admitted to the CTC with heart and kidney failure, but sadly passed away before his planned operation, at the age of 86.
The paintings were handed over by family friend Yvonne Uphill to Leonard Stock, a nurse on the ward.
He said: “Bill was a lovely, friendly gentleman who spoke a lot with the nurses of his love for Netflix. His paintings are planned to be displayed in the wellbeing area of the ward, and the nurses’ office. It will be a real pleasure to have them on display.”
Bill’s niece, Marlene Baker, said that Bill and his late wife, Sue - who was previously a district nurse and midwife at the hospital - would be thrilled to see the paintings on the walls.
She said: “Bill was a keen but frustrated artist; he never felt his paintings were good enough to hang on walls and instead stored them in his art shed. It’s nice that Bill’s beautiful artwork will have a permanent home at Basildon Hospital, to be appreciated by staff, patients and their families.”
Painting was something that ran in Bill’s family as his great uncle was Sir Luke Filds, who has a painting called The Doctor on display in The Tate Gallery.