After 45 years,  Philippa Lister has hung up her bootees.

She's heading out of the assisted conception unit at CRH (now known as Yorkshire Fertility)  and into a new  life of family, dog-walking, allotments and holidays.She's was a midwife for 20 years and worked in assisted conception for another 20.

And she admits she's loved her career from start to finish.

Pip said: "It has got busier and busier as time has gone on and I have loved all of my nurse career. Working here  everything is changing all the time. We started small and it has really taken branched out and taken off. Mr de Bono is a real lynchpin and he loves it all and everyone in the team feels the same."

She started cadet nursing in 1971* and started midwifery at the former Halifax Infirmary.

ACU sister, Helen Marvell, said: " Pip has been with the fertility service since we started and has been a dedicated member of the team since then, supporting huge amounts of couples on their fertility journey. She has seen the service grow from two nurses and Mr DeBono (see photo attched) to a team of nine nurses, four administration staff and two doctors.

"I can't begin to imagine how many families she has helped to create over the years, but will obviously have made a huge difference.

" We would like to wish Pip a long and happy retirement which, I'm sure, will be filled with seeing friends and spending time with her husband Richard, twins Max and Olivia and of course their dog Archie. She will be greatly missed by our patients and colleagues."