We would like to acknowledge and celebrate the retirement of Richard Morris, Associate Director of Operations (ADO) for Clinical Specialist Services (CSS), who will be retiring at the end of March.
Richard’s journey in healthcare has been remarkable, beginning his career as a cleaner at North Tees before progressing to a Healthcare Assistant in Hartlepool and Darlington.
He then trained as a nurse and took on leadership roles across South Tees, South Tyneside, the Modernisation Agency, Department for Health, and York, where he spent 14 years before joining County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust in 2016.
One of Richard’s first major achievements within the Trust was overseeing the demolition of the P3 building and leading the construction of the new theatre block - an especially poignant project as the site held personal significance for him, having worked there as an Healthcare Assistant Healthcare Assistant earlier in his career.
Richard has always placed patient care and service improvement at the heart of his work.
Throughout his time with the Trust, he has provided strategic leadership across surgery and clinical specialist services, spearheading critical projects such as the development of a new mortuary and bereavement suite at Darlington and Durham.
He also played a key role in advancing plans for a new hospital to replace Shotley Bridge Community Hospital.
His contributions were particularly significant during the COVID-19 pandemic, where he helped drive the vaccination programme internally and at a regional level.
Healthcare is a family tradition for Richard, with his mother having served as an Associate Director of Nursing at Darlington Memorial Hospital, and his daughter now working as a nurse in the Emergency Department at Darlington.
His family’s dedication to healthcare spans nearly a century, with a nurse in the family since 1924.
A well-respected and well-liked figure, Richard’s passion for enhancing patient care and experience has made a lasting impact.
He will be greatly missed by colleagues, but we wish him a happy, healthy, and fulfilling retirement as he looks forward to some well-earned holidays and the arrival of his first grandchild later this year.
Effective from 1 March 2025, Felicity White, current Associate Director of Operations for Surgery, will move into the ADO role for CSS.
Eion Carroll, currently ADO for Medicine, will transition into the ADO role for Surgery, while Jo College will take on the ADO role for the Medicine Care Group.
We extend our best wishes to Richard and look forward to seeing the continued success of the teams under their new leadership.
