Lovely  Kath Barnes has retired after 38 years - 30 of them on Special Care Baby Unit  - and following in her mum's footsteps.

She did her nursing and midwifery training  which involved rotation in SCBU which is where she fell in love with the role caring for new-born tiny and poorly babies.  

She said: " I just loved caring for  the babies. On the unit it can be very high intensity but it's lovely when the babies go home and then come back and you can see them growing up.."

Her career had seen huge advances in caring. She said: " When I first started, the chances of babies surviving at 29 weeks was low. Not now. Thanks to  technology, drugs and experience they survive."

She said she had plenty planned for retirement including travel, picking up her skills as a qualified florist and volunteering... at Leeds Donkey Sanctuary. She also plans to renovate a cottage.

Colleagues presented Kath with a Pandora bracelet and a host of individual gifts.