Dr Laura Hipple

Dr Laura Hipple – who has helped thousands of women with early pregnancy - will retire from her role as Associate Specialist at NCIC this week after 33 years.

Laura, who is also SAS Lead/Tutor, trained in Newcastle and qualified in 1986.

Her first job was as a house officer in general surgery and gynaecology at Newcastle General Hospital.

She said: “I came back to Carlisle in 1990 as a Registrar on the Northern Regional Obstetrics and Gynaecology training scheme. I passed my MRCOG while working here and, because I wanted to stay in North Cumbria for personal reasons, I opted to apply for a new staff grade job created here in 1993. I have now been a SAS doctor for nearly 30 years which I think makes me one of the longest serving SAS doctors in the UK!”

Laura, who recently turned 60, says she has enjoyed “lots of things” during her time at NCIC.

She said: “The opportunity to develop locally as a professional in my SAS Doctor role - both clinically (I gained a diploma in Advanced Obstetric Scanning and was promoted from Staff Grade to Associate Specialist in 2003) and in terms of educational, research and leadership roles. The fantastic individuals and multi-disciplinary teams I have had the pleasure of working with over the last 33 years and the women and their families I have met and continue to learn so much from. Also – North Cumbria is such a wonderful place to live, we are very lucky to be able to work in such a beautiful part of the country.”

She added: “The best things happen when we work together well in teams rather than as individuals and there are so many things I have worked on with amazing colleagues over the years it is hard to pick out just one thing!

“I am proud of the early pregnancy clinics we set up and introducing scanning into our fertility clinics. Also the work of the cross-site multi-disciplinary pregnancy loss and antenatal screening groups I chaired. Helping to raise the profile of SAS doctors and their potential at NCIC and nationally and the work of our local MDDF team. Also working collaboratively with midwifery, nursing and medical staff within and across specialties trying to sort the best patient pathways as Covid hit. But I think my greatest sense of fulfilment has to be when I have had the privilege of seeing a couple experiencing infertility or pregnancy loss problems go on to have a healthy baby and/or walking alongside a couple when they experience disappointment or loss and we help – in however small a way - to make that journey slightly more bearable for them.”

Although Laura is retiring she wants to continue to support patients in her specialist role as well as her successor in her SAS role. She will also be kept busy in her new honorary role as Vice President for Membership and Workforce at the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.

She said: “I will still do an early pregnancy clinic each week and continue as SAS lead – which hopefully means I will also be able to help mentor whoever we appoint as our new SAS Tutor.”

Colleagues marked Laura’s retirement at a recent event.

Her last official day is January 28.