THE first nurse consultant to be employed by the Hambleton and Richmondshire Primary Care Trust (PCT) has taken up her post.

Chris Ward has become nurse consultant in palliative care for adults. She was previously lead nurse for cancer care at the Friarage Hospital, Northallerton.

Her new role is expected to offer a chance to help achieve better outcomes for patients suffering from life threatening illnesses and diseases.

Ms Ward, who is based at Rutson Community Hospital in Northallerton, said she was relishing the challenge of her new post.

She said: "The intention is to look at how we can improve both access to, and integration of, services, and also enhance the quality of care.

"As well as being a first for the PCT, this is a personal achievement for me and I am really looking forward to developing the nurse consultant role in the PCT - hopefully, the first of many."

* Nurse consultants are seen as a key plank in the Government's modernisation policy. They are senior positions, which have to be approved at regional level by the Department of Health.

The concept was introduced as a way of providing a new career path for senior nurses by extending their role into fields which traditionally had been the domain of medical staff.

It was also seen as a way of ensuring that senior nurses could continue to develop in their chosen clinical field, rather than moving into more managerial roles as their careers developed.