NHS Forth Valley chief to stand down after announcing her retirement

dailyrecord.co.uk:

NHS Forth Valley’s chief executive is to retire after spending five years in the position.The announcement over the future of Cathie Cowan was confirmed this week following a turbulent period for the health board, which has included the impact of the Covid pandemic and questions over its performance.Ms Cowan had been in the role since 2017 and arrangements for the recruitment of her successor are now underway.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 four escalation.“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.” Click here for more news and sport from the Stirling area.

The Scottish Government has been in ‘oversight’ of NHS Forth Valley since November last year due to concerns over accident and emergency waiting times and the working environment which led to five consultants resigning within two weeks.Stirling MSP Evelyn Tweed said: “Cathie Cowan saw NHS Forth Valley through a very challenging period including the Covid-19 pandemic.“I am grateful for all