NHS Forth Valley chief executive Cathie Cowan announces retirement

The chief executive of under-fire NHS Forth Valley has announced she plans to retire.

Cathie Cowan has been in charge of the health authority for almost six years.

Last November NHS Forth Valley was placed in special measures by the Scottish Government after concerns were raised over continuing failures to tackle its GP out-of-hours care and long waits in A&E.

There was also criticism over lack of improvements at Forth Valley Royal Hospital following a visit by healthcare inspectors.

Cathie Cowan, chief executive of NHS Forth Valley, has announced she will retire. Pic: Michael Gillen

This evening, Mrs Cowan, who joined Forth Valley from NHS Orkney, confirmed that she is retiring and arrangements will now be made to recruit her successor.

She said: "The last few years have been incredibly challenging but also very rewarding as staff, primary care colleagues and partners pulled together to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic, manage the subsequent recovery of local services and take forward a wide range of changes and improvements in response to the more recent stage 4 escalation.”

However, she admitted there was still more work to do, adding: “"Much has been achieved during this time and, despite the ongoing challenges, the assurance board set up by the Scottish Government has provided feedback that the board is better placed to make progress on the Improvement Plan going forward.

"There is no doubt that there is still much more to do, and it is therefore right that, as work is taken forward to plan for the medium to longer term, now is the right time to hand over the baton to someone who can build on this work and continue to drive forward sustainable improvements."