Tributes to ‘a loving and sensitive lady’

Gloria Oates

THE former head of the Royal Oldham Hospital Trust has died after a short illness.

Gloria Oates was chief executive of the Oldham NHS Trust, which ran the Royal Oldham Hospital, from 1994 until 2002.

She was the major force behind the creation of the present Pennine Acute Hospitals Trust which united services in Oldham, Bury, Rochdale and North Manchester.

Mrs Oates, who died on Sunday aged 71, had previously been chief executive of Rochdale Healthcare NHS Trust and for two years was assistant regional general manager for the North Western Regional Health Authority.

Mrs Oates was also chairman of the governors at Oldham Sixth Form College, and had been chairman of the Standards Committee at Oldham Council since 2002.

She was a Deputy Lieutenant for Lancashire, her home county, from 1997, and High Sheriff of Lancashire for a year in 2001/02. She lived in Ramsbottom.

Mrs Oates was also named Lancashire Woman of the Year in 2002, the same year she became the first chairman of Oldham Council’s new Independent Standards Committee.
Earlier this year, she stepped down as vice-chairman of the Greater Manchester Police Authority.

Mrs Oates served as pro-chancellor at the University of Central Lancashire in Preston from 1992 to 2002 and was awarded an OBE for services to healthcare in 2000.

Mrs Oates, who was widowed and leaves five daughters and eight grandchildren, trained as a nurse and worked as a ward sister in hospitals in Birmingham and Sussex, working her way up from the wards to management.

She took seven years out when she and her husband, Graham, decided to have a family and in 1994 she became chief executive of Oldham NHS Trust.

Deputy council leader Jackie Stanton said: “She did an enormous amount of work on behalf of the people of Oldham, and when that ceased, she did not walk away from Oldham, but stayed on in a voluntary capacity. Until recently, she chaired the Standards Board and did an excellent job there.

“She was chairman of the governors at the sixth form college and was so proud of the college and worked tirelessly for it. She stayed a true friend of Oldham.”

Police Authority chairman, Councillor Paul Murphy, said: "Gloria was not only a colleague, she was a close friend to me and many other members.

“We are all devastated by the tragic news. Gloria was a loving and sensitive lady who was tough at the same time — she certainly wasn’t afraid to challenge either me or the chief officers, particularly in her role as chairman of our Scrutiny Committee.”