THE future of NHS nursing lies in the Commonwealth, according to the chief nurse of Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust as she embarks on her next chapter in 'the career of a lifetime'.

At 8am on Thursday morning, Catherine Stoddart boarded a plane to make the 9,000-mile journey back to her native Australia.

For the past three years the 56-year-old, a regular sight patrolling the wards in her bright red uniform, has overseen the vital work of 5,500 nurses across the trust.

Ms Stoddart, who was born in Bunbury, near Perth, decided she would be a nurse at the age of 13 but like many nurses entered the profession late.

She said: "It has absolutely been the career of a lifetime. You meet people at the most intimate point in their life, when they're giving birth and taking their last breath.

"Being at OUH has been the hardest thing in my career, professionally and personally, but it has been the most rewarding as well."

Before joining OUH in March 2014 Ms Stoddart was the chief nurse for the State of Western Australia and worked on projects in Tanzania and Vietnam.

Her role in Oxford has involved daily face-to-face contact with nurses and patients, work on the trust's 30-year estates programme and handling complaints.

She said: "This is an amazing trust and I'm not just saying that because I'm going. The standard of care is exceptional.

"We have about 1m patient contacts a year, and about 1,000 complaints. When you're on the ward you get the perspective back again."

Brexit, she said, would be a crucial challenge for the trust as OUH recruits about 600 nurses from the EU over a standard 18-month period.

But she added: "I think England is going to have to get people from Commonwealth countries like India, Australia and Canada.

"The education standard is the same, the standard of English is high and the qualifications translate across."

Ms Stoddart noted that retention was also a problem with OUH, with many nurses training there for the 'Oxford brand' but then leaving due to the cost of living.

The new Oxford School of Nursing, a partnership between the NHS and Oxford's universities launching this summer, is in part aiming to address the problem.

Amid NHS transformation plans that have sparked consternation among the Oxfordshire public, Ms Stoddart also stood by the board of OUH.

She said: "Whatever decisions are made, the quality of care and patient safety is front of mind for every single person who interacts with patients clinically.

"People don't see it and the language doesn't show it. As a board we have to be a certain way. But behind the scenes we angst over the same things as everybody else."

Ms Stoddart is returning to Australia to be with her two grown-up children and take up a new public role as chief executive of Northern Territories Health.

Andrew MacCallum, who has previously worked at NHS Improvement and Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust, has been appointed as interim chief nurse.