Pippa Ward, senior sister in our operating theatres at King George Hospital, has retired after over 30 years at our Trust. She trained with us in 1984 and spent almost her entire career in our hospitals – with just a five-year gap at Basildon Hospital in the 90s.

After qualifying as a nurse in 1986, Pippa, who lives in Romford, started working in our theatres at the old King George Hospital site. It was when she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2010, that she experienced our hospitals from the other side – as a patient.

Pippa said: “It was very odd to be treated at the hospital where I worked but they looked after me so well I wanted to do what I could and raise money for the department.

“I used to run a mother and toddler group at a church and fundraised for the church, and I’d raised £5,000 for a cancer charity after my dad had prostate cancer – I like to immerse myself in stuff. I planned to raise around £1,000, however, it got to £10,000.”

The money was spent on a lipofilling machine for breast cancer patients, which removes fat from other areas of the body to replace where the tumor has been removed. She also secured donations to fund iPod docking stations in our Radiotherapy department at Queen’s Hospital so patients were able to listen to music during treatment.

Over the years Pippa, who has sons Matthew, 29, Robert, 27, and Adam 24, as well as granddaughter Emily, three, continued to raise thousands for our charity. She ran stalls, held events, and worked with local groups like the Lions and Rotary clubs, was a member of the League of Friends, and worked with the school where her sister teaches to raise money.

She was also proud to give talks to raise awareness about breast cancer – and was delighted when one woman told her she went for her first mammogram after hearing from Pippa.

Given that at one point she contemplated being a carpenter, Pippa has loved her career in healthcare. So much so that she will continue with a part-time role as a surgical assistant at the Independent Treatment Centre based at King George Hospital.

Pippa added: “I’ve been very fortunate to have had a lovely career and met amazing people. Given I’ve had a lot of illness along the way, now is the time to retire and enjoy life and spend more time with my family.”

After her retirement earlier this month, Pippa’s first order of the day was a trip to Scotland with husband Nigel, who she met working at our Trust when both were staff nurses.

Pippa is pictured top at her retirement with Remi Odejinmi, consultant anaesthetist and our Director for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion.