Image source, Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

The Chief Executive of Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Deborah Lee, has announced her retirement.

Ms Lee will leave her role in March 2024.

She said: "The timing has not been easy, but I shall be 60 in January...and this feels like the right time for the organisation and me."

Ms Lee made headlines when she was driven to hospital by her husband because of fears over ambulance delays, after she had suffered a stroke.

In her leaving statement, she said her time as chief executive was "the most challenging and yet the most rewarding of my 40-year career."

She added: "I shall look back with sadness at the impact of the pandemic on so many lives but also with immense pride on what we achieved during that period.

"I feel incredibly privileged to have had the opportunity to lead and to serve this great organisation, through such a momentous time in the NHS's 75-year history," she said.

The trust says it is now recruiting for her replacement.

Follow BBC West on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to: bristol@bbc.co.uk

Related Topics