The chief executive at a hospital trust is leaving to join a health charity.

Katie Fisher began her NHS career as a nurse and joined the management training scheme in 2000.

Before joining West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust in July 2016, she was director of service transformation at Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust and had also worked in commissioning.

Ms Fisher will leave her role at the trust at the end of June to become the chief executive at a healthcare charity.

Trust chairman Steve Barnett, announced her resignation today with “profound regret”.

He said: “Under her leadership we came out of special measures, improved upon a wide range of clinical outcome measures for patients and increased our staff satisfaction rates in national surveys. Many hospital trusts would be pleased with just one of these three achievements.

“She should also be praised for her significant contribution to the creation of an exciting vision for the future of our estate and our bid for major funding to transform our buildings. Katie has always been driven by the quality of care we provide and so it is no surprise that this motivation has taken her to a new role leading a healthcare charity.

“She will be very much missed by staff at all levels and her departure will also be a loss to our patients and the NHS. Chief executives of her calibre are hard to find, but given the enormous progress we have made over recent years, I am confident that the post will attract some very strong candidates.”

Richard Harrington, MP for Watford, added: “I am very sorry to hear that Katie Fisher is resigning as the Chief Executive of West Herts Hospitals Trust.

“Working with her to improve our local hospital has been an absolute pleasure. She should be praised for driving such high quality of care for patients, and for her contribution in moving Watford General out of special measures.

“I know that she will be really missed by staff and patients alike.”

Deputy chief executive Helen Brown will be acting chief executive from the beginning of July until a new chief executive is appointed.