Casualty spoilers follow for Saturday’s episode (17 January), which is available to watch now on streaming service BBC iPlayer and hasn’t yet aired on TV. This article contains storyline details that some viewers may prefer to avoid.

Casualty has aired emotional exit scenes for Ngozi Okoye, as the nurse officially says goodbye to the ED and Nicole Piper. Ngozi’s fate was left up in the air at the end of the last boxset after she relapsed into alcohol addiction, with the nurse being rushed to hospital.

Last week, newcomer Kim assumed that Ngozi had died, based on the way Nicole spoke about her. But Nicole later cleared up that her former partner is thankfully alive and receiving treatment in a rehabilitation clinic.

With Ngozi at the end of her stay in rehab, today’s episode saw Nicole meet her to load her belongings into the car. It was soon revealed that Nicole was driving Ngozi to Bournemouth where she was going to start a new life – with a hospital in the area sponsoring her visa for a year.

As for Ngozi’s son Obi, since the events of the last boxset, he returned to Nigeria to live with his grandmother, with Ngozi hopeful that they will be on the same continent at some point in the future.

Ngozi reminded Nicole that as part of her recovery, she had been advised not to have any romantic relationships for a year, making it clear that there was sadly no hope for them as a couple.

During the long drive to Bournemouth, Ngozi opened up about her experience of rehab. Nicole passed on well wishes from the ED team, and Ngozi remarked that she would miss Holby.

When they arrived at Ngozi’s new flat, Nicole used the opportunity to apologise for her reaction when she found out that Ngozi was an alcoholic.

The pair said an emotional goodbye to one another, with both declaring that their relationship changed them for the better and that in another life, they could have been happy together.

Ngozi asked Nicole not to come into her flat, determined to have a completely fresh start. They were both heartbroken as they parted ways, but Ngozi was left looking ahead to a brighter and happier future.