A SENIOR figure from the probation service has been appointed chairwoman of the new Sunderland Teaching Primary Care Trust.

Susan Winfield took up her her four-year post when the organisation came into being yesterday.

Mrs Winfield, 54, is a deputy chief officer with the National Probation Service, Northumbria.

As a teenager she was a volunteer with the Women's Royal Voluntary Service at Cherry Knowle and Sunderland General Hospitals.

She said: "I want to see the provision of high quality services to the broadest range of people in the community."

Mrs Winfield, of Durham Road, Middle Herrington, Sunderland, has worked for the probation service in the North-East since 1970.

She has been a trustee and manager at Aycliffe Young People's Centre for more than ten years and she is also vice-chairwoman of the board of managers.

Sunderland Primary Care Trust is one of only three in the country covering a population of 300,000 with 140 GPs working from 54 practices.