Muriel Powell was for 22 years matron of St George's Hospital, London, and for a brief period Chief Nursing Officer in the Scottish Home and Health Department in Edinburgh. She was an influential role model, an influential leader of and spokesperson for her profession, and a member of the government committee that recommended the removal of the title “matron” from the National Health Service in 1968. The title is now being reintroduced and one of the purposes of this paper is to highlight the lack of any consideration having been given to the historical background of the title and the reasons why it was removed.
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