The job was 24-7 - retiring hospital boss

Tracy Bullock became chief executive of UHNM in April 2019 and is leaving the role after being diagnosed with a long-term health condition

The chief executive of a hospital trust in Staffordshire has said she has very mixed emotions about retiring after five years in the job.

Tracy Bullock leaves University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust (UHNM) on Friday due to ill health.

"Emotionally and mentally I am still very up for this job, and very saddened to be leaving, but physically I know it is the right time," she said.

Ms Bullock took on the top job in April 2019, having previously been boss at Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

UHNM Trust runs Royal Stoke University Hospital and County Hospital in Stafford.

Ms Bullock said she had prided herself on being a chief executive who was very visible in the organisation, but after being diagnosed with a long-term health condition, she had "struggled" to maintain that.

The job had been "full-on 24-7", she said, and cited the demand as leading to her retirement as she could not be physically at the "top of her game".

Ms Bullock has just completed 40 years in the NHS, of which 17 were spent as a nurse before later moving into management.

She said that up until September 2023, she would still periodically care for patients on the wards, as she missed being directly involved in nursing.

Maintaining her nursing registration had proved "very useful during the Covid pandemic," Ms Bullock explained.

Her last day in charge of the trust was going to start with a "very large fry-up" with her "work family", before saying goodbye to "many, many people".

In April it was announced the new chief executive of UHNM would be Dr Simon Constable.