Ida Barbara Helen Quaile (née Renton 28 March 1906 – 15 February 1999) was a Scottish nurse, midwife, Matron of

Glasgow Victoria Infirmary The Glasgow Victoria Infirmary was a teaching hospital situated at Langside/ Battlefield in the south-east of Glasgow from 1880 until 2015. It was managed by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. History A competition was held to design a 120-bedded ...

and Lady Superintendent of

Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh The Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, or RIE, often (but incorrectly) known as the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, or ERI, was established in 1729 and is the oldest voluntary hospital in Scotland. The new buildings of 1879 were claimed to be the largest v ...

Early life and training

Quaile was born in Edinburgh on 28 March 1906, the second child of Ida Sandeman, of the

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port and wine family, and David Renton, a

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. She was educated at St Trinnean's School for Girls in Edinburgh where she was Head Girl. In 1927 she began four years of nursing training at Edinburgh's Royal Infirmary and was admitted to the Royal College of Nursing in 1932. A believer in continuing education she went on to gain a Diploma in Nursing from the

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in 1936, received the Central Midwives' Board for Scotland midwife teachers' qualification in 1939, and in 1946, was registered as a Sister Tutor by the General Nursing Council for Scotland.

Career

After qualifying as a nurse, she went to work at the

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before returning to Scotland to take up the position of assistant matron at the

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in Edinburgh. In 1940 she moved to work at the 2,000-bed emergency war hospital, Bangor Hospital near

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. She was appointed matron at the hospital, making her, at that time, the youngest woman in Scotland to hold such a position. In 1946, she was appointed matron of Glasgow Royal Infirmary, remaining there until 1955, after which she took up the position of lady superintendent of the

. In the hospitals that Quaile oversaw, she implemented changes and efficiencies, including portering services to transport patients to and from wards rather than using nursing staff, actively encouraging the employment of male nurses, advocating for senior staff to live out from the hospital, and seeking improvements to nursing accommodation. Considered a strict disciplinarian with high standard, she was respected by both staff and patients. In 1958 she received an OBE for services to nursing.

Professional activities

Quaile held several professional positions during her career and after her retirement. She was a member of the General Nursing Council for Scotland, and Secretary, and later President, of the Association of Scottish Hospital Matrons, representing the Association at the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. She served on the Scottish Board of the Royal College of Nursing and from 1944 to 1948 was a member of the Board's Reconstruction Committee which examined the future of nursing after the

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. She was a member of the Western Region Hospitals Board and helped establish the Marie Curie Centre at Hunters Hill, chairing its house committee. From 1961 to 1968 she was president of

Bearsden Bearsden () is a town in East Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the northwestern fringe of Greater Glasgow. Approximately from Glasgow city centre, Glasgow City Centre, the town is effectively a suburb, and its housing development coincided with t ...

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, from 1968 to 1971 chair of the board of governors of Queens College, and a director of Balmanno Homes adult care centres.

Personal life

Her interests included painting and music. She retired in 1958 to marry Kenneth McEwan Quaile, a widower and

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from Glasgow. Quaile died in Glasgow on 15 February 1999, aged 92.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Quaile, Barbara 1906 births 1999 deaths Scottish nurses Health professionals from Edinburgh Female wartime nurses Nurses of the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh Officers of the Order of the British Empire