THE new managing director at the Hospitaller Order of St John of God in Scorton has pledged to continue the development of its services and care facilities.

Mrs Liz Pollard was appointed in May and is the first woman in charge of the English province.

Born and bred in Darlington, Mrs Pollard is an old girl of the town's former high school and was a student at the Queen Elizabeth sixth form college.

She has more than 20 years' experience of working at director and senior management level in a variety of organisations.

"I started off working for the Burton group and came through the human resources route then broadened that out over the last ten years," she said. "Immediately before taking up this post I was working as a management consultant, non-executive director of South Durham healthcare trust and was a member of the North Yorkshire probation service."

Mrs Pollard explained how she came to be at St John of God: "I was working with the order, helping them out on a number of issues when they were going through changes in their management structure, then they asked me if I would take on the role of managing director.

"In the past, the brothers ran the order themselves, but as they are moving to retirement the number of active brothers is becoming fewer, therefore they work with lay people like myself to help them to provide their services."

Though many people in the area will be familiar with the private hospital facilities at Scorton, that is only the tip of the iceberg as far as the work of the order is concerned

Mrs Pollard explained: "We support adults with physical and learning difficulties and we also have a residential Alzheimer's unit, a nursing home, as well as the surgical unit. The private hospital side is a source of income which allows us to carry on our charitable works.

"It's also very important to us to work closely with the families and carers of the people who do live here."

The order has recently opened a second operating theatre, again with a view to generating revenue to support its charitable work, and future plans include a possible increase in the number of places available in the Alz-heimer's unit.

"We have more than 30 residents there at the moment," said Mrs Pollard, "but there is a long waiting list and I would like to expand the unit."

Although she admits the job is different from any she has had before, Mrs Pollard says she is revelling in her new situation.

"It's a unique environment and the order is steeped in the tradition and history of providing care to the sick and needy," she said. "That does not mean that we don't operate in a businesslike manner; we do, but it is a unique place to work.

"The setting is lovely and the surroundings are calm and peaceful. After all it is home to an awful lot of people as well as being a hospital in the traditional sense."