During her tenure at the hospital, she modelled herself on its founder, Sister Agnes, who had been matron before her, and she looked after, among others, Harold Macmillan and Field Marshal Viscount Montgomery of Alamein.

[3] During the Second World War she was in charge of an officer's wing at St Thomas's Emergency Bed Service based at the former mental institution at Botleys Park,[2][4] where she cared for many of the first casualties from the Normandy landings.

[2] Others who were cared for at the hospital during her time in office included Harold Macmillan,[7] Field Marshal Viscount Montgomery of Alamein in 1955, and Princess Alexandra who was admitted for the extraction of a wisdom tooth.

Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester, remembered that Saxby had been "a great admirer of Prince Henry from the days when he had been her President at King Edward's".

[2] Her death was widely reported, including in an obituary in The Daily Telegraph which described her as "a neat precise woman with a soft light brown hair with a sharp wit; small in stature but tough".

[2] Dorothy Shipsey (later matron 1980–1994) reported that many attended the thanksgiving service for her life held at St James's Church, Spanish Place, including representatives of the royal family.