A doctor has hung up his stethoscope after almost a quarter of a century at Macclesfield Hospital.
Dr Rob Stead, pictured, joined East Cheshire NHS Trust, which runs the hospital, as a consultant in general respiratory medicine in 1990 and rose up the ranks to medical director in 2007.
The 60-year-old, who lives in Macclesfield, retired last month and he plans to travel and sail with his wife Helen.
Medicine is in the family for Rob, whose wife Helen worked in nursing and, of their three children, one is a doctor and another a nurse.
Speaking of the changes he had seen over his career Rob said: “When I arrived the medical wards were in the Ingersley building which has since been used for mental health services and the trust HQ.
“The old Victorian Infirmary on the site now occupied by Sainsbury’s had been sold and I recall taking the time one afternoon to walk its empty corridors before it closed in 1990.
“I undertook a clinic at Alderley Edge Cottage Hospital which had GP beds and which of course has also closed.”
Rob’s proudest achievements are establishing specialist services for respiratory patients and the work to integrate health and social care services, as well as his involvement in the ‘Health Matters’ series of lectures.
