A QUIET, fragrant change wafted its way through Oxfordshire's hospital wards in 1989 as aromatherapy was on the rise.

Individual nurses took up the skills pioneered by Sister Helen Passant at the Churchill.

Fragrant oils were used for background effect, for massage, as inhalers and even in baths to help relax patients - and staff - and aid recovery.

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The Institute of Nursing which was newly-formed at the time ran an aromatherapy project.

Demand from individual nurses reached a point where hospital nurses considered stocking the essential oils.

Primary nurse Ros Wise said: "I just got hooked. And because I was coming back here full time I thought I might use it. There was general interest here in that kind of thing , with one or two bottles of essential oil in the ward before I came along."

The simplest use of the oils involved just a bowl of hot water and a drop of essence; lemon grass, lavender, cedar wood or eucalyptus.