AFTER 46 years working for the NHS in Basingstoke, a dedicated chef has decided to hang up her whites for good.


Jan Willis was given a rousing send-off by her colleagues in the catering department at Basingstoke hospital as her stellar career came to an end.


Jan said: “I am sad to be leaving but it is the right time for me to stop working.


“I will really miss everyone because I have been here for so many years and really enjoy my job.”


Asked what she will be doing during her retirement, she added: “I’m just planning to have a break to start with.


“I might take up a couple of hobbies, but I will see how I get on. I would like to do something with animals because I really like cats.”


Jan joined the NHS in September 1969, when she was just 17-years-old, beginning her training as a chef at Park Prewett hospital.


She worked her way up to assistant head chef by the time the facility closed in 1997, when she moved on to work at Parklands Hospital.


Jan began working at Basingstoke hospital, in Aldermaston Road, in 1999, again working her way up to assistant head chef before taking on the role of diet chef a few years ago, for which she prepared meals for patients with special dietary requirements.


Sally-Ann Jones, catering business manager at the hospital, paid tribute to Jan, saying: “In all of her roles, Jan has stepped in to help out, often running departments single-handed.


“She has been a dedicated member of staff and is well respected and liked by her colleagues.


“I would like to thank Jan for all of her hard work and wish her happiness in her retirement. She will be sorely missed by the whole team.”