Heart hospital chief poised to retire

Sep 29 2007 by Liza Williams, Liverpool Daily Post

THE chief executive of Merseyside’s biggest specialist heart hospital is to retire from the post after a decade.

Mike Bone, who joined the Cardiothoracic Centre (CTC) Liverpool NHS Trust in 1997, announced yesterday that he will leave at the end of next month.

The CTC serves a population of 2.6m across the North West and the Isle of Man. A team of doctors at the CTC, led by heart surgeon Abbas Rashid, saved former Liverpool FC manager Gerard Houllier’s life after he fell ill at half-time during the home game at Anfield against Leeds United in October, 2001.

At the Trust's AGM yesterday, Mr Bone paid tribute to the staff and spoke of his pride in the hospital team.

When Mr Bone came to the trust, he was faced with submitting the first outline plan for building the new hospital.

The last part of the building will be opened on October 1.

Until a successor is appointed, Bob Chadwick has been appointed interim chief executive.