Flora Ocran was born in Ghana in 1939, and trained as a nurse there. She was always interested in nursing, and her mother used to deliver babies in the village and surrounding area. She came to the UK in 1964, and on arrival worked in a nursing home in Kent in order to qualify as a UK registered nurse. She worked in many London hospitals as an agency nurse, often doing night shifts, remitting funds to family in Ghana. She was not offered further training (and did not ask for it). She recalls there not being many black nurses in the 1960s and 1970s, but got on well with her white colleagues, although elderly patients could be a bit difficult at the beginning because of the colour of her skin. She noticed more black nurses in the 1980s.

Flora was a member of UNISON, and though she did not call on them for support, she recalls a colleague who needed UNISON help to query a transfer.

In this clip she descibes moving to the UK and having to start at a lower grade despite her experience in Ghana.

Click on the pdf icon to read the entire transcript or click on the mp3 icon to hear a clip of the interview.

Title	Ocran, Flora
Maker	--
Production Date	2019
Format	Photograph
Copyright	--
Holding Institution	TUC Library Collections, London Metropolitan University
Related Objects	--