A husband and wife team, who have both spent their careers at Newcastle Hospitals, are retiring at the end of December with a combined 75 years’ of NHS service.
Senior Sister Karen Hutton, who works in outpatients at the RVI and her husband Paul Hutton, who works in pharmacy quality control, have been with the Newcastle trust since 1981 and 1991 respectively.
To mark the rare achievement and combined milestone, which also falls in the NHS 75th birthday year, Newcastle Hospitals Charity has commissioned a portrait by local photographer Johannah Churchill.
Johannah, who was previously a nurse at Freeman Hospital, has exhibited widely, including at the National Portrait Gallery in London, and is currently a lecturer in contemporary photography at Sunderland University.
Commenting on the couple’s achievement, Martin Wilson, chief operating officer at Newcastle Hospitals said:
“We’re delighted to do something special to celebrate the lifetime of service Karen and Paul have provided to the NHS.
“They’ve both been valued members of our team for many years and have worked diligently in a variety of roles, always here in Newcastle.
“Their combined expertise will be a huge miss to the organisation and we all wish them the very best for a well-earned retirement.”
Karen and Paul said:
“We’ve both loved our careers in the NHS but have decided the time is now right to move into a different phase of our lives.
“The opportunity to have our professional portrait taken is exciting and we’re really looking forward to seeing the final result.
“We’ll miss so many of our Newcastle Hospitals colleagues but now is the time for us to spend more time with family, in particular our two gorgeous granddaughters.”
The final framed portrait was presented to Karen and Paul on Thursday 21 December.
