It has, without doubt, changed beyond all recognition since its creation in 1948 and, despite its ongoing battle to conquer superbugs, its principles and the people who apply them remain largely the envy of the world.

A mother and daughter have notched up more than 70 years in nursing between them and wouldn't have swapped the experience for the world.

Rosalie Curran, of Eldroth Road, King Cross, Halifax, began nursing in 1953 at Halifax General Hospital. Her daughter Pauline Pilcher, of Whiteley Terrace, Rippon-den, followed in her footsteps in 1973.

"I'd always wanted to be a nurse," says Rosalie. "Even though it was long hours and low pay. We used to get £5 a month."

She says she had cousins who were nurses and came to Halifax from Ireland to train because they were charged £100 back home to be taught the job.

"At that time 95 per cent of the staff at Halifax were Irish," she says. "I loved every minute of it, I liked the camaraderie most."

Back then, she says, keeping wards clean was top of the agenda and involved sweeping, dusting and disinfecting everywhere, every day.

Before she retired in 1994, she had spent 30 years as a midwife and helped with the births of thousands of babies throughout Calderdale.

She remembers how midwives used to carry a Gladstone bag, containing forceps and some birthing equipment that was steralised by putting it in the mum-to-be's oven.

Both Pauline and Rosalie believe people's attitudes to nurses have changed over the years.

"In those days we were thought highly of by everybody – the patients, the visitors and the public," says Rosalie. "We were giving them a service and they appreciated it."

Pauline believes she was always destined to be a nurse, having grown up with the profession and experienced her mother's passion for the job.

"Our house was always full of nurses. It just seemed like the right thing to do," she says.

Pauline began her own career at Royal Halifax Infirmary in 1974 and for 27 years worked on the neo-natal unit.

She has been involved in public services union Unison for 16 years and is now the trade union convener at Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust.

Both mum and daughter praise the nursing care provided at Calderdale Royal Hospital. Rosalie says she was there for treatment recently and found the nurses were "fantastic".

Pauline adds: "They're a certain breed of people that work in the NHS. We get a lot of people coming in now from industry and they get a culture shock.

"They're a kind breed of people and hard-working. They'll go that extra mile to help you."