Chris Anne thanked for her outstanding contribution

Sincere and heartfelt tribute was paid to Chris Anne Campbell at the latest meeting of Western Isles Health Board.  

Last Wednesday (June 23) was Chris Anne’s final meeting of the Board before she returned back to retirement on June 30.    

Chris Anne had previously been Nurse and AHP Director/Chief Operating Officer and had retired from the NHS in December 2018.   

Chris Anne returned from retirement back to NHS Western Isles in March 2020 to provide resilience leadership and advice during the pandemic. She returned to the organisation initially to manage the requirements around Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), followed by the preparation of the organisation’s Remobilisation Plan: a complicated, detailed and ever-developing document which details when and how services were going to resume during the pandemic. More recently, she also led the assessment, planning and implementation of the Lateral Flow Testing system for staff.  

Chris Anne continued to show her unfaltering commitment to the NHS and local communities, when she agreed to take on the additional significant responsibilities of Nurse and AHP Director/Chief Operating Officer from the beginning of February. 

She continued in this role until the appointment of the new Nurse and AHP Director/Chief Operating Officer, Fiona Mackenzie on June 1.  

Chris Anne has continued to provide senior leadership and skills as well as progressing some important pieces of work to support the remobilisation of patient-facing services.  

At the Board Meeting, Interim Chair, Gill McCannon, said: “It’s incredible what Chris Anne has done. She came back from retirement to support us and her support has been outstanding. Chris Anne, you have done an absolutely fantastic job, in particular with remobilisation, and your wealth of experience and knowledge has been invaluable over the pandemic. Thank you on behalf of the Board for the outstanding work you have done. You are an absolute asset to the NHS and we will miss you.” 

Chris Anne commented: “It’s been 16 months since I came back and it’s been the quickest 16 months that I have had in all my decades working for the NHS. Everybody has worked together so hard over the pandemic and it feels like we have had to work at 100 miles per hour. I have had various jobs since returning and have enjoyed my time back. Thank you to all the staff for being so supportive during my time here. I’m now ready to go back to my garden and back to retirement.”  

Following the Board meeting, NHS Western isles Chief Executive, Gordon Jamieson, said: “Chris Anne’s contribution has been mission critical to us and I owe her a huge thank you for stepping forward without hesitation and staying with us throughout such a challenging time.”