THE county’s health community says goodbye to one of its longest servers this week.

On retirement, Ros Peter will have reached a half century of service to the NHS, with 20 of those years spent at Hereford County Hospital (HCH).

For much of her career, Ros has cared for patients with a terminal illness. Her boss calls her “amazing”.

Ros started her nurse training in 1964 and came to HCH as a night sister. She then joined the staff at St Michael’s Hospice until 2002 when she was appointed as a palliative care clinical nurse specialist at back at HCH.

The hospital and community palliative care services have since merged to become Wye Valley NHS Trust’s specialist palliative care team working across the county to support patients with a terminal illness and their families in hospital or at home.

Ros, who ends her career as lead palliative care Macmillan nurse at Wye Valley NHS Trust, said she will “greatly miss” her colleagues on retirement and promises a “smooth transition” for patients with her replacement appointed and due to start soon.

Helen Byard, service delivery manager at Wye Valley NHS Trust, called Ros “amazing and kind hearted”, paying particular tribute to her commitment to improving palliative care services in the county.