A FORMER chairman of the trust which runs York Hospital and University of York professor has died, aged 73.

Emeritus professor Alan Maynard was chairman of York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust between 1997 and 2010 and then served as lay chair of Vale of York Clinical Commissioning Group for three years from 2012.

His son John said he had been offered the opportunity to move to a hospice before his death but chose to stay at the hospital where he had worked. “We are all grateful for the great care he received from the NHS he loved and worked so hard to support.”

He said his father, of Heworth, who had been married to Liz and had four children - himself, Justin, Jane and Samantha - and eight grandchildren, had "shown great courage and patience through a long illness".

Prof Maynard began lecturing in economics at the University of York in 1971, became founding director of the Graduate Course in Health Economics and in 1983, he became professor of health economics and founding director of its Centre for Health Economics.

A university spokeswoman said he stood down as centre director in 1995, but was a professor in the Department of Health Sciences from then until he retired and became emeritus, and he was still active in research right up to the end.

Current centre director Professor Maria Goddard said the university was "deeply saddened" by his death and he would be remembered for his kindness, mentorship, wit and wisdom.

She said that over the course of his career, he had made a "tremendous contribution to the field of health economics and the life of the university as a whole", adding: “He was a crucial voice in the development of UK and international health policy.”

Trust chief executive Patrick Crowley said Prof Maynard had a "profound influence on those he worked with and was an inspiration to many", and was a lifelong champion of the NHS.

Keith Ramsay, who succeeded him at the CCG, said it had been "an honour" to know him, adding: “He was a warm and caring individual whose commitment and passion for healthcare provision was infectious.”