News

The Royal Hospital Chelsea has said goodbye to its Director of Health and Wellbeing, Colonel Laura Bale, whose career at the Royal Hospital has spanned the last eight and a half years.

(Laura Bale, second left, with Chelsea Pensioners Doug and Audrey)

Laura joined the Royal Hospital Chelsea in 2008 as Matron, a position she held for the following eight years. During her time at the Royal Hospital she created the policies and plans for the successful running of the Margaret Thatcher Infirmary, our special on-site care home with nursing, which opened in 2009, and helped the Infirmary achieve the highest grade (Outstanding) from the Quality Care Commission last year.

In a farewell speech in front of a large group of Chelsea Pensioners and staff, the Governor of the Royal Hospital, General Sir Redmond Watt, said: “Laura has created a genuinely caring culture and set the standards and the culture to which the staff work and made sure that the staff were trained properly. She has also insisted on a process of continuous improvement, and what she has created will endure to support generations of In-Pensioners in the future. She has been a good friend to everyone here for the last eight and a half years, and great fun too.”

After a round of applause from the Chelsea Pensioners and the presentation of gifts, Mrs Bale added: “At the Royal Hospital Chelsea – whether you are staff or volunteers – the Pensioners are always at the centre of everything we do here at this extraordinary institution. My Infirmary staff are outstanding and I’m so proud of the Outstanding endorsement that we received from the CQC last year. I will miss you all very much.”