DAYS after stepping down as chairman of Hereford Hospital Trust, Cessa Moore has been made an MBE for services to healthcare.

Mrs Moore has spent much of the last 30 years working for the health service in Herefordshire in a number of different roles, having been chairman of the former Herefordshire Health Authority and an active member of the Herefordshire Community Health Council.

Mrs Moore, who has lived in Herefordshire for 45 years, described receiving the MBE as "a huge honour, something you could never expect, because it's so difficult to get.

"My husband and mother have both been given the MBE and my father had a CBE, so it feels nice to join them in a way," she added.

Despite being so well known around the county for her work in healthcare, Mrs Moore much prefers to talk about her charity work, specifically the open gardens she holds at her Shucknall Hall home.

She said: "The one we held recently was a very happy occasion. Just under 100 people came and we raised £4,000 for the Macmillan Renton Appeal. We had a fantastic lunch prepared by the appeal's fundraising committee and the weather was perfect, we couldn't have been luckier.

"It was the second time we'd opened the garden that week as on the Sunday, we managed to raise £400 for the National Garden Scheme, which shares the money between various charities."

Mrs Moore gave up the reins at the County Hospital at the end of May and colleagues planned a farewell at Aylestone Court Hotel.

Consultants, surgeons, clinicians, hospital staff and volunteer workers were there to pay tribute to the chairman who always believed in a "hands on" attitude to her work.

Even people who had retired, or been on annual leave turned up for the occasion. Many people spoke of Mrs Moore's dedication to improve health services in Herefordshire and said she would be sadly missed.

Although she has now left the hospital trust, Mrs Moore is planning to stay on as a trustee and chairman of The Support for Sick Newborns and their parents at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford and as president of St John Ambulance in Herefordshire.