Happy retirement to our General Manager, Sue!

Sue has sent a message of thanks to all those who have wished her well since retirement;

“I should like to extend my heartfelt thanks to those who helped to make my last day at UHDB such a memorable one, I was certainly given a wonderful send-off that I shall never forget.

I should also like to thank the many colleagues , some from many years ago, and those that have worked with me much more recently, for the kind messages wishing me well for my future. I’m truly grateful to all the fabulous colleagues who I have worked with over the years for the friendship and support given to me.   

I wish you all the best of health and success for the future” – Sue Searle

***

Following 35 years of NHS service, 26 years of which at University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust, our General Manager, Sue Searle, is today retiring.

Sue started her career in the NHS in 1986 when she entered nursing as an Registered General Nurse, spending time on surgical wards before moving into theatres and developing an interest in vascular surgery before spending a year in Richmond, Virginia, working as a theatre assistant.

During her time at UHDB, Sue has given dedicated service to patients both as Registered Nurse in Theatres and then in General Management roles in Theatres and Anaesthesia, Head and Neck, Cancer Network, Theatre Efficiency Project Manager and the Emergency department at the former Derbyshire Royal Infirmary.

She has also undertaken strategic roles, spending time as Assistant Director of Commissioning in the Strategy and Partnerships Directorate before leaving the Trust to take on the role of Hospital Director at the Nuffield Health Hospital in Derby between 2007 – 2010. Sue then returned to the Trust working in Transformation, developing the business case and operating model for the Trust to establish its own dedicated private patients business, Derby Private Health, which reinvests all profits back into the Trust.

Under Sue’s leadership Derby Private Health has gone from strength to strength achieving growth that would impress any panel member on Dragon’s Den!

Andrew Hall, Divisional Director of Surgery, said: “We will miss Sue’s wise counsel on a whole range of matters, but I am sure you will all join with us in wishing her the very best as she starts the next chapter of her life.”

*Photograph taken pre-pandemic*