My mother, Ragnhild Sweet-Escott, who has died aged 89, was one of many women in the 20th century whose lives were devoted to the NHS through marriage to GPs. In the 1950s and 60s, being a doctor’s wife was a job in its own right. While her husband, Michael, visited patients in the Dales and took packed surgeries in Skipton, North Yorkshire, where he worked as a GP, she took out-of-hours calls and dealt with patient queries. Although this was unpaid, she was utterly committed to the NHS and she took huge pride in her role of supporting the group GP practice.
Ragnhild was born in Folldal, a farming community in central Norway, to Johannes Blaesterdalen, a detective in the Oslo police, and Bergljot (nee Øyen), a teacher. After a childhood dominated by the challenges of living under Nazi occupation, she thrived in the optimistic and exciting postwar period.
She attended Berg skole in Oslo. In 1950, she came to England for a summer to help care for two elderly women in Lyme Regis. There she met Michael Sweet-Escott, whose home was in the town. Ragnhild then worked as an au pair in London and as a secretary for the Fulbright Commission in Oslo. After their marriage in 1953, she and Michael spent a year in Cornwall before moving to Skipton.
Ragnhild felt very at home in the area; the life of Yorkshire farming communities reminded her of that led by her family in Norway. She came to love the hills, villages, pubs and footpaths of the Dales.
Having experienced a new culture and new country, she drew on this to help many others over the years, including doctors and families new to the area. She enjoyed bringing people together and was extremely welcoming to people of all ages and backgrounds, hosting meals at our family home, and providing a warm and caring environment for visitors and for the school and student friends of her three children.
During the first 10 years of their life in Skipton, weekends “off” were rare and precious, and, when they had free time, she and Michael enjoyed walking with their family and English springer spaniels. Every year they packed up the car and headed for their much-loved cottages in the Norwegian mountains, where they enjoyed the outdoor life and meeting family.
In the 1970s, Ragnhild trained as a Relate counsellor, working largely in Bradford. Her empathy and listening skills were well suited to this role.
On Michael’s retirement in 1985, they moved to Guiting Power in Gloucestershire. They enjoyed going to classical concerts and walking in the Cotswolds. She was a fantastic knitter, creating many Norwegian-patterned jumpers for the family. After 25 happy years in Gloucestershire, dominated by the arrival of their grandchildren and travelling, they returned to live in the Dales. They were both wonderfully cared for by the NHS in their final years.
After Michael died in 2016, Ragnhild moved to Sheffield to be closer to family.
She is survived by her children Karen, Peter and me, and by seven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
