Marjorie, who lives in South Kirkby, received a personal letter of thanks from health secretary Alan Johnson to mark the milestone during a special lunch with members of the board from the Wakefield District Primary Care Trust (PCT).

She said: “My memories are all good ones and are very precious to me. I just want to keep on working for the trust, I enjoy it so much.”

Marjorie began her career in 1957, when she became a cadet nurse at Pontefract General Infirmary and was forced to learn nursing skills at a rapid pace during an outbreak of Asian flu in 1958.

She said: “I always wanted to be a nurse. My parents worried about me being so close to death. A lot of people, including staff, died of Asian flu, but I only ever saw my experience as a way of gaining more knowledge and helping those in need.

“I was widowed at 30 and it was hard back then working as a single mum, as time off, at Christmas and during school holidays, was frowned upon.

“The NHS has come a long way since then, today there’s a great deal of support for staff trying to balance their home and work life.”

Marjorie – who currently works at Rycroft – trained to become a state registered nurse at Harrogate Preliminary Training School and became a midwife at the Plaistow Maternity Hospital in East London.

She went to Sheffield to train as a health visitor, receiving the highest marks for her examinations they had ever seen.

Marjorie worked as a nurse, senior nurse and a midwife before she retired in 1995 – but returned to the service two years later.

Alan Wittrick, chief executive of the PCT, said: “Marjorie is an inspiration to us all. It was wonderful to celebrate her successes at the lunch with the PCT’s board members. She has had a very interesting and varied career and remains the consummate healthcare professional.”