ROYAL Bolton Hospital chief Barbara Peacock is leaving the demanding world of the NHS behind for an idyllic retirement in the Cotswolds.

She will retire next month to a thatched cottage in the country after spending 10 years helping to give the best service possible to patients in the town.

But it will be a difficult move for the 57-year-old, who was appointed the first chairman of the NHS Trust in 1993. She was born in the hospital she has helped to run and has lived close to the town all her life.

"The town gets in your blood and it will be sad to leave," she said. "There are so many people I have worked with and I shall miss them enormously."

Mrs Peacock, who lives on Chorley New Road, was brought up in Worsley. She moved to Bolton when her husband opened a GPs practice in Westhoughton 34 years ago.

She said: "I effectively married the health service," and from 1981 until 1983 was a member of the former Bolton Health Authority.

In 1993 she was appointed the first chairman of the newly-formed NHS Trust and was reappointed by the Government in 1997.

She said one of the proudest achievements of her reign was transferring all services from the Bolton Royal Infirmary to what is now the Royal Bolton Hospital in 1996.

Mrs Peacock added: "It has worked extremely well and it has been one of the very big rewards, seeing the two teams working together."

She said there had been many highlights over the years and lists the cardiology and breast units and the day unit as giving her enormous satisfaction.

She had witnessed many other changes as well, adding: "Modern technology has advanced at such a tremendous rate. Babies are now surviving which wouldn't have years ago and people are living longer."

Mrs Peacock warned that as technology progresses it also brings added pressures for hospitals.

She said: "A lot of promises are being made and expectations are very high. I just hope the Health Service can fulfil those promises."

As well as her work with the NHS Trust, Mrs Peacock has served as a governor at numerous schools and as a magistrate.

Another of her great achievements was being a founding member of Bolton Hospice, which has helped care for hundreds of people suffering from cancer.

Mrs Peacock said she decided to retire when her husband felt it was time to call it a day as a GP. She added: "If he was retiring I was as well."

They have decided to move to the Cotswolds to be close to their eldest daughter Pippa, 33, and their three grandchilden. Their two other children, Nick, 33, and Rebecca, 24, should be returning to the country soon after working away.

Travelling to Australia, South Africa and America is also on the agenda, before they return to their cottage in the spring.