Runcorn woman retires after 45 years in National Health Service

A Runcorn woman who has worked in local hospitals and NHS offices for 45 years was showered with tributes as she retired from the health service.

Gill Collen, 64, of Norton near Runcorn, was described as ‘a linchpin’ and ‘an amazing, supportive colleague’ by her colleagues at the Innovation Agency, an NHS organisation based at Sci-Tech Daresbury where she has worked for the past 10 years as an admin officer.

She was 17 when she left college and started work in 1975 as a junior receptionist in Warrington General Hospital.

Gill said: “I have still got the Pitman shorthand notebooks I used in my first job, stored in my attic! I’ve enjoyed working in different parts of the NHS; I moved to Warrington Infirmary and then back to Warrington General when changes were happening.

“After a two-year break while I was having my two sons I returned as a medical secretary to a gynaecologist, Mr H W C Davies; then I became supervisor of medical secretaries at what was Winwick Hospital and I helped with the move into Hollins Park where I became involved in medical staffing and recruitment.”

After another reorganisation, Gill was moved to Leigh as medical secretary. The commute was too long so she looked for a new job closer to home.

“I saw an advert for admin staff at the Innovation Agency when it was just starting up and I thought, that looks interesting! I was the first person to be recruited after the chief exec and non-exec directors in 2013 and I have watched it grow and develop over 10 years.

“I have really enjoyed being involved in different projects to get innovations into the NHS; it might not be the frontline but I know that innovation is important and what the Innovation Agency does is helping patients – and one day one of these innovations might help me!”

Gill is a member of Warrington Road Runners and Mersey Triathlon Club and has three marathons and hundreds of road and trail races under her belt.

Innovation Agency Chief Executive Dr Phil Jennings said: “I have never seen such heartfelt, effusive messages as those showered on Gill from colleagues who, like me, are very sad to see her go. I am very grateful to Gill for all her great work for the Innovation Agency and for the wider NHS and I wish her the very best for the future.”

About the Innovation Agency

The Innovation Agency is the Academic Health Science Network (AHSN) for the North West Coast, one of 15 AHSNs in England who work together as the national AHSN Network.

Their role is to spread innovations at pace, helping facilitate change across whole health and social care systems to improve health and care and stimulate economic growth.

The AHSNs work together to deliver national programmes with funding from NHS England and the Office for Life Sciences. They also work closely with integrated care systems (ICSs) in their regions, to support innovations and improvements targeted at local populations.

The Innovation Agency covers Cheshire, Merseyside, South Cumbria and Lancashire, serving a population of just over four million residents.

http://www.ahsnnetwork.com

http://www.innovationagencynwc.nhs.uk