Florence Nightingale commemorated in Radio 4 Sunday Worship from St Thomas' Hospital

The service was held just a few days before the actual centenary of Nightingale's death on 13 August.

2010 is also the 150th anniverary of the Nightingale Training School established by Florence Nightingale at St Thomas' Hospital which continues as the Florence Nightingale School of Nursing & Midwifery at King's College London.

The service was led by the Revd Mia Hilborn, chaplain of Guy's and St Thomas', and featured an address by the Revd Tom Keighley, fellow of the Florence Nightingale Foundation.

The address also highlighted some of Nightingale's often overlooked achievements outside nursing, including her involvement in the production of the first Bible for children and her translation of the writings of St Teresa of Avila and St John of the Cross.

The Nightingale Choir of staff and students was founded in 2007 by Ian Noonan, lecturer in mental health at the school, and Mary King from VoiceLab at Southbank Centre.

The school's choir was joined by the Guy's and St Thomas' Choir to perform 'Deeper, Wider', a newly commissioned choral piece by composer-in-residence John Browne which is a setting of words by Florence Nightingale – "I believe we have relations to each other, that are deeper, wider and more enduring than the ties we see".

"The Nightingale Choir provides people with the opportunity to think about the voice of nursing and midwifery in a new and dynamic way," explains Ian Noonan.

"Nurses and midwives use their voices to calm, reassure, liaise, advocate and heal on a daily basis, and this is a wonderful opportunity to add a new aesthetic and hopefully beautiful element to our vocal repertoire.

"It is also great to meet and work with our NHS trust partners through song. We are delighted to be contributing to this act of worship and celebration."

Earlier this year the Florence Nightingale Museum at St Thomas' reopened after a major refurbishment timed to coincide with this year's celebrations and commemorations.

Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust also has a programme of events to mark the Nightingale centenary. Nurses and midwives across the trust have been hosting special events each month so far this year.

More events are planned for the rest of the year including a staff study day, focusing on palliative care and symptom management, a celebration of paediatric nursing in October to coincide with Evelina Children's Hospital's 5th birthday and a closing party in December which will look back on all the activities throughout the year.

• BBC Radio 4's Sunday Worship from St Thomas' Hospital is available to listen online for 7 days after broadcast.