Chair Prem Singh announces his retirement plans after 47 years’ NHS service
Prem Singh, chair of Derbyshire Community Health Services NHS Foundation Trust, has today (15 July) announced his plans to retire in December 2022 after a health service career spanning 47 years.
Prem’s announcement was made to his 4,300 colleagues within the Trust this lunchtime, at the same time as he also announced his retirement plans to colleagues at Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Integrated Care Board where he also serves as chair.
In Prem’s own words to his Derbyshire NHS colleagues he wrote:
“After 47 years' service within the NHS and social care, I have decided the time is right for me to retire. This has been a joint decision taken with my wife, who is also retiring after 35 years' NHS service, and together we plan to focus our time and energy on our family and the next chapter of our lives. We both plan to retire in December this year - please rest assured I remain fully committed to my role within DCHS and the wider system until that time.
“Being the chair of DCHS for more than eight years has been the highlight of my career and one which has been both an honour and an absolute privilege. I have had the pleasure of working with some incredibly talented people who have both inspired and humbled me in equal measure. Together we've led the Trust to Foundation status and achieved an 'Outstanding' rating from the CQC.
“I'm also particularly proud to have created a unitary Board with a clear common purpose, bound together by shared values and a strong focus on doing the right thing for patients, communities and staff. DCHS has so many excellent and dedicated leaders and I shall miss the many professional and personal relationships I've formed over the years. They say that if you find a job you love you’ll never work again, and this for me sums up my time here at DCHS. Whilst I am looking forward to my retirement, leaving DCHS will be a real wrench and one of the hardest things I've had to do.
“I'll be in touch again as we approach December, but I'd like to take this opportunity to say thank you once again for your ongoing support and for your dedicated service to the people of Derby and Derbyshire.”
Over the next five months we will have plenty of opportunity to mark Prem’s remarkable career and to wish him well for the next chapter in his life. In due course we will also be embarking on the process to appoint a successor for the post of chair of Derbyshire Community Health Services NHS Foundation Trust.
