The Queen’s Nursing Institute Annual Conference 2024

Mark has been in the nursing profession for over 20 years and is currently Deputy Programme Director MSc/PGDip Public Health and Specialist Community Nursing (Community Children’s Nursing, Community Nursing in Health and Social Care, District Nursing, General Practice Nursing, Health Visiting and School Nursing) Programme at City St George’s, University of London where Mark is involved in supporting students undertaking the newly NMC approved and QNI endorsed SPQ and SCPHN Pathways. Mark also contributes to the independent and supplementary prescribing module. Mark has a passion for all aspects of community, district and primary care health and social care nursing, leadership and technology.

Jane is a dual registered as a Children's and Adult Nurse. She has worked on Children's Wards across London, Surrey and Sussex including Paediatric Intensive Care. Jane has been working in the community setting for the last 20 years and has a Specialist Practice Qualification in Community Children's Nursing and a Masters level qualification in leadership and management. She has a special interest in medically complex care and Special School Nursing. Her caseload complexity work is published in the Royal College of Nursing guidance, Futureproofing CCN .

Kathryn has been a Registered Nurse for 34 years, and has worked in a variety of nurse education roles since 2002, within Hospitals, NHS England (Education Projects) and Higher Education.

Now in her role at Director of Nurse Education at University College Birmingham, she has led the NMC approval process of all nursing programmes with the initial AEI approval in 2020. 

The newest approved programmes are the MSc Community SPQ in Health & Social Care, with two new pathways- Inclusion Health Nursing and Adult Social Care Nursing. She has been working with NHSE, QNI, Social Care Advisory Council, the regional ICBs, Nursing Home networks to promote these pathways nationally.

My previous experience was in primary care as a practice nurse for 21 years, nurse facilitator, practice education facilitator and practice teacher. Within my roles I taught practice nurses on long term conditions and clinical skills. I completed my Masters in education in 2016 and began teaching as visiting lecturer at the university on the physical health assessment programme. My research for my masters focused on how practice nurses access continuing professional development using a case study approach. In addition I was awarded Queen’s Nurse Title in 2016. The title indicates a commitment to high standards of patient care, learning and leadership and is available to individual nurses who have demonstrated a high level of commitment to patient care and nursing practice. I feel I am an enthusiastic teacher, utilising different teaching styles from classroom to blended learning ensuring evidence based information to inform my lectures. I construct and use lesson plans to ensure flow and achieve stated learning outcomes. I use reflection both in and on action to ensure learners are provided with the optimum learning experience. In my current role I am involved with supporting specialist practice and fundamentals in practice nursing routes and work closely with my colleagues within the organisation to ensure that students are supported through their learning journey.

Dr Crystal Oldman CBE joined the QNI in November 2012 as Chief Executive. Crystal worked in the NHS for 18 years, the majority of which was in the field of community nursing, working with some of the most deprived communities in west London. She has a passion for learning, teaching and research to support best practice and in 1994 joined Buckinghamshire New University as a senior lecturer, to develop a variety of community nursing programmes. Crystal enjoyed an academic career for a further 18 years, completing her Higher Education career as Dean of Enterprise and Business Management in the Faculty of Society & Health, where her role included the development of partnerships with external agencies to promote research and assist in workforce development. Crystal’s interest in leadership and management inspired her doctoral studies into the knowledge, skills and attributes of middle managers and this research was completed in 2014. She was awarded a CBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List in 2017 for services to community nursing and her leadership of the QNI.

I have worked in community teams in North Cumbria for ten years and have been a Team Lead and SPQ for the last five. I am a nurse prescriber and since early 2023,  I have been the co-chair of the digital reference group leading on advancing digital technologies which aim to improve the delivery of care in community nursing teams.  

Professor John Unsworth is the Interim Deputy Faculty Pro Vice Chancellor at Northumbria University. He has a background in community nursing practice, education, management and research. Prior to his current post John has worked as the Head of Learning and Teaching, University of Sunderland, Head of Academic Development at the Higher Education Academy and as Director of Nursing Programmes at Northumbria University. He is an experienced NHS manager having been a Nurse Director in a rural Care Trust in Northern England prior to taking up posts in Higher Education. He has experience of workforce redesign in relation to developing the community nurses’ role around admission avoidance. John is also an International Council of Nurses (ICN) Global Nursing Leadership Scholar 2020. John has extensive experience of developing nursing, medical and higher education internationally having worked to develop teachers and practice in China, Thailand, Vietnam, Ghana, Bahrain, Hungary, Ukraine and Grenada (West Indies). John trained as a nurse in Sunderland and worked in a variety of acute ward settings before moving into district nursing. He completed his specialist practitioner qualification in district nursing in 1997 and he has worked in a variety of roles including district nursing, as a specialist nurse and nurse consultant. He has a PhD from Robert Gordon University which specifically examined the influence of health care organisations on innovation and development. John is an alumnus of the QNI Innovation and Creative Practice Awards and is a Queen’s Nurse. John was awarded an OBE for services to community nursing and community nurse education in the Queen’s Birthday Honours in 2022. 

Ben co-founded and leads the QNI Community Nursing Research Forum, strengthening nursing research capacity, leadership and evidence-based practice in the community. He is a Welcome Post-Doctoral Fellow, University of Cambridge, and a practicing Honorary Nurse Consultant in Palliative Care. Ben leads research focused on improving dignified dying at home. He is an interdisciplinary clinical academic, whose programme of research draws on engineering design, patient safety and social sciences. Ben was recently announced as one of the 75 nurses and midwives whose work has had an especially significant impact on the NHS since its creation. He was awarded the RCGP and Society for Academic Primary Care Outstanding Early Care Researcher.

Prof Gina Awoko Higginbottom MBE was appointed in 2015 as the Mary Seacole Professor of Ethnicity and Community Health at the University of Nottingham – the first nurse of BME origin to hold a professorship in a Russell Group university in England and is now Professor Emerita. She is a nurse, midwife and health visitor. Formerly a Canada Research Chair in Ethnicity and Health (renewed) for 8 years at the University Alberta, Canada the faculty ranked #1 for nursing in Canada. The first woman of colour to hold a CRC awarded in 2007, the CRC award is a marker of research excellence.

Dr Crystal Oldman CBE joined the QNI in November 2012 as Chief Executive. Crystal worked in the NHS for 18 years, the majority of which was in the field of community nursing, working with some of the most deprived communities in west London. She has a passion for learning, teaching and research to support best practice and in 1994 joined Buckinghamshire New University as a senior lecturer, to develop a variety of community nursing programmes. Crystal enjoyed an academic career for a further 18 years, completing her Higher Education career as Dean of Enterprise and Business Management in the Faculty of Society & Health, where her role included the development of partnerships with external agencies to promote research and assist in workforce development. Crystal’s interest in leadership and management inspired her doctoral studies into the knowledge, skills and attributes of middle managers and this research was completed in 2014. She was awarded a CBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List in 2017 for services to community nursing and her leadership of the QNI.

Victoria Bartlett, Director of Patient Care at Rowcroft Hospice, Devon and a Queen's Nurse since 2014, brings over 22 years of dedicated experience in nursing. With a background as a Clinical nurse specialist, District Nurse and a deep commitment to the development and application of clinical standards and competencies, Victoria has played a pivotal role in advancing specialist care for patients at end of life. Passionate about improving care quality and professionalism.

Emma is a registered mental health nurse who progressed her career in clinical and service management roles across Surrey, Sussex and London, including in prison settings. Since 2020 Emma was the Deputy Director of Mental Health Nursing for NHS England and gained her PhD on the impact of grief and stigma after suicide in 2022. Throughout her career Emma has continued to work clinically, most recently this was as a Consultant Nurse within a psychiatric liaison service. Emma is committed to continual improvement and global mental health; she is a Technical Advisor to the WHO’s European Mental Health Collaborative and is a Visiting Professor at the University of Surrey.

I am an experienced Registered Nurse (Learning Disabilities) (RNLD), Specialist Practitioner – Community Learning Disabilities Nursing (SCLD), qualified nurse lecturer (TCH), and Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA). In 1994, I qualified as a Learning Disability Nurse (RNLD) and worked as a clinical manager in a community residential home. In 1999, I qualified as a Specialist Practitioner in Community Learning Disabilities Nursing; I worked within a Community Learning Disability Team. My practice has varied and included community nursing (United Kingdom) and nursing within secure forensic intellectual disability inpatient and 'step-down' services (Adults) and Youth Intellectual Disabilities Secure Service for people aged 12-18 years (New Zealand). During my years as a registered nurse, I have developed a specialist interest in the health needs of people with a learning/ intellectual disability, in particular, those individuals who have profound and multiple learning disabilities/profound intellectual and multiple disabilities (PIMD/ PMLD). I have made significant contributions to this field through being a member of the Profound and Multiple Learning Disabilities [PMLD] core group and formerly an 'International Champion' for the Mencap (UK) PMLD Network. Lead editor for the textbook 'Profound Intellectual and Multiple Disabilities' (2008) and former editor for PMLD Link Journal. I was also a member of the PMLD Network Oxfordshire and the PPMLD Network Leicester, Leicestershire, and Rutland Better Lives PPMLD group. I remain connected to the PMLD community through my professional networks. 2024 marks my 24th year of working in higher education, contributing to pre- and post-registration nursing programmes. I work at The Open University as a Lecturer in Nursing, Learning Disabilities. I am the Field Lead for Learning Disabilities, a Module Chair and Practice Tutor. I am also a part-time Doctoral Researcher at The Open University. I am currently conducting research with parent carers of young people with profound and multiple learning disabilities/profound intellectual and multiple disabilities (PMLD/PIMD) in England. This research aims to explore their experiences during their child's transition from child to adult health and social care services, aiming to improve the transition process and the quality of care.

Professor John Unsworth is the Interim Deputy Faculty Pro Vice Chancellor at Northumbria University. He has a background in community nursing practice, education, management and research. Prior to his current post John has worked as the Head of Learning and Teaching, University of Sunderland, Head of Academic Development at the Higher Education Academy and as Director of Nursing Programmes at Northumbria University. He is an experienced NHS manager having been a Nurse Director in a rural Care Trust in Northern England prior to taking up posts in Higher Education. He has experience of workforce redesign in relation to developing the community nurses’ role around admission avoidance. John is also an International Council of Nurses (ICN) Global Nursing Leadership Scholar 2020. John has extensive experience of developing nursing, medical and higher education internationally having worked to develop teachers and practice in China, Thailand, Vietnam, Ghana, Bahrain, Hungary, Ukraine and Grenada (West Indies). John trained as a nurse in Sunderland and worked in a variety of acute ward settings before moving into district nursing. He completed his specialist practitioner qualification in district nursing in 1997 and he has worked in a variety of roles including district nursing, as a specialist nurse and nurse consultant. He has a PhD from Robert Gordon University which specifically examined the influence of health care organisations on innovation and development. John is an alumnus of the QNI Innovation and Creative Practice Awards and is a Queen’s Nurse. John was awarded an OBE for services to community nursing and community nurse education in the Queen’s Birthday Honours in 2022. 

Dr Crystal Oldman CBE joined the QNI in November 2012 as Chief Executive. Crystal worked in the NHS for 18 years, the majority of which was in the field of community nursing, working with some of the most deprived communities in west London. She has a passion for learning, teaching and research to support best practice and in 1994 joined Buckinghamshire New University as a senior lecturer, to develop a variety of community nursing programmes. Crystal enjoyed an academic career for a further 18 years, completing her Higher Education career as Dean of Enterprise and Business Management in the Faculty of Society & Health, where her role included the development of partnerships with external agencies to promote research and assist in workforce development. Crystal’s interest in leadership and management inspired her doctoral studies into the knowledge, skills and attributes of middle managers and this research was completed in 2014. She was awarded a CBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List in 2017 for services to community nursing and her leadership of the QNI.

Qualified in 2001 as an RMN, briefly worked as a CPN for Adults before gaining employment in Cornwall with the Older Person's Service. 2005 piloted the first Memory Clinic in Cornwall which was replicated across the county in 2009. 2013 became the Clinical Lead for East Cornwall then ACP for the whole of Cornwall's Memory Services.

DIPHE Nursing, BSc (1st), MSc Mental Health (Merit), Non-medical prescriber. Queens Nurse 2013, QNI Aspiring Leadership course 2017, Winston Churchill Fellow 2018. Principal Investigator for many portfolios as well as local research studies, published several times, the last article (2020) reviewed the use of psilocybin in Alzheimer's disease.

Not ready to retire yet!

George has been the Chief Executive of the National Garden Scheme since 2010. The NGS gives visitors unique access to over 3,500 exceptional private gardens in England and Wales and raises impressive amounts of money for nursing and health charities through admissions, teas and plants. Annual donations are in excess of £3 million. Previous career as a gardens author and journalist started in 1980. The first of 14 garden books, Royal Gardens, was published in 1981. The most recent, The English Country House Garden, was published in 2014 and won the GMG's 'Inspirational Book of the Year' award.

Andy is the Policy and Practice Manager at Carers Trust and leads on their UK policy activity relating to young carers and young adult carers. He has over 20 years’ experience of raising awareness and seeking to improve identification and support for young carers and young adult carers on a local, national and international level. In 2022, Andy founded the Young Carers Alliance, a growing network of over 200 organisations and 600 individuals, all looking to improve support for young carers and young adult carers.

Andy sits on a number of national steering groups and advisory panels relating to young carers and young adult carers and is a regular keynote speaker.

Elaine is a Registered Nurse who specialised in cardiothoracic nursing before undertaking senior nurse and general management posts in the NHS, completing her Masters in Nursing and subsequently Business Administration. Elaine has undertaken a number of executive roles over the last 25 years ago including Oxford University Hospitals as Chief Nurse for over 6 years. Since then she has also worked with both NHS and private healthcare at Director /Executive level across both acute and community contexts. She is now supporting NHS organisations with Operational Excellence Programmes (based on Lean principles and Quality Improvement Methodologies) and has recently completed her Professional Doctorate in Nursing.

Professor John Unsworth is the Interim Deputy Faculty Pro Vice Chancellor at Northumbria University. He has a background in community nursing practice, education, management and research. Prior to his current post John has worked as the Head of Learning and Teaching, University of Sunderland, Head of Academic Development at the Higher Education Academy and as Director of Nursing Programmes at Northumbria University. He is an experienced NHS manager having been a Nurse Director in a rural Care Trust in Northern England prior to taking up posts in Higher Education. He has experience of workforce redesign in relation to developing the community nurses’ role around admission avoidance. John is also an International Council of Nurses (ICN) Global Nursing Leadership Scholar 2020. John has extensive experience of developing nursing, medical and higher education internationally having worked to develop teachers and practice in China, Thailand, Vietnam, Ghana, Bahrain, Hungary, Ukraine and Grenada (West Indies). John trained as a nurse in Sunderland and worked in a variety of acute ward settings before moving into district nursing. He completed his specialist practitioner qualification in district nursing in 1997 and he has worked in a variety of roles including district nursing, as a specialist nurse and nurse consultant. He has a PhD from Robert Gordon University which specifically examined the influence of health care organisations on innovation and development. John is an alumnus of the QNI Innovation and Creative Practice Awards and is a Queen’s Nurse. John was awarded an OBE for services to community nursing and community nurse education in the Queen’s Birthday Honours in 2022. 

As Deputy Vice Chancellor, Brian’s strategic portfolio covers learning, teaching, research and knowledge exchange.

He is both a mental health and adult nurse and has been a registered nurse for 39 years.

Brian has been leading on the creation of the Pears Cumbria School of Medicine, a partnership with Imperial College London, which opens in 2025.

He has an extensive national and international profile and previously held the post of Chair of the Council of Deans of Health UK.

Brian was awarded an OBE in the King’s Birthday Honours in 2024 and was recognised as a QNI Fellow in 2022.

Lisa Locker is Hallam Medical’s Chief Nurse. 

Lisa is an extremely experienced nurse, holding over 30 years’ experience within a number of NHS settings as an Advanced Nurse Practitioner and as a Senior Clinical Manager with additional international experience in Trinidad.

Within a large NHS Trust, Lisa was one of the first ANP’s to qualify with her MSc Advancing Health & Social Care Practice course, whilst working as Deputy Nurse Director and separately as Chief Information Officer.

She brings strategic vision, strong leadership, effective management, professional advice, safeguarding lead and has significant clinical expertise.

As Chief Nurse, Lisa is responsible for Clinical Governance and Safeguarding, work closely with our clients and support our teams of highly skilled Advanced Practitioners, Community Specialists and 111 Pathways Clinicians. She will help to enable clinical services to deliver excellent care within Urgent Care, Primary Care, Community services and 111. 

Lisa additionally works closely with our trusted partners The Queen’s Nursing Institute (QNI), Integrated Care Board Chief Nurse Network (ICB Chief Nurse Network, The Association of Advanced Practice Educators UK (AAPE UK) and The Queen’s Nursing Institute Community Nurse Executive Network (QNI CNEN).

Julie was appointed as an NMC Senior Nursing Education Adviser in July 2023. 

Julie is a Registered Nurse (Adult), Specialist Practitioner – District Nursing, and Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. Julie has a wealth of experience in higher education working with practice learning partners and students to deliver NMC programmes for nursing and midwifery alongside continuing professional development of registrants. 

Julie was Chair of the Association of District Nurse and Community Nurse Educators (ADNE) for 7 years, stepping down in June 2023. Julie is proud to be a Queen's Nurse and is a member of the Editorial Board of the British Journal of Community Nursing

Michelle has been working at the University of Roehampton for 5 years where she has been part of a team initiating a brand-new school of nursing with a community/primary care focus. She is a District Nurse by background and had a 15-year clinical career before joining full time academia in 2013. She has a passion for educating students nurse and inspiring them to take community posts as a first destination career. Her teaching interests also include managing long term conditions and clinical skills and simulation. Research interests also include developing resilience in the student nurse population.

Professor John Unsworth is the Interim Deputy Faculty Pro Vice Chancellor at Northumbria University. He has a background in community nursing practice, education, management and research. Prior to his current post John has worked as the Head of Learning and Teaching, University of Sunderland, Head of Academic Development at the Higher Education Academy and as Director of Nursing Programmes at Northumbria University. He is an experienced NHS manager having been a Nurse Director in a rural Care Trust in Northern England prior to taking up posts in Higher Education. He has experience of workforce redesign in relation to developing the community nurses’ role around admission avoidance. John is also an International Council of Nurses (ICN) Global Nursing Leadership Scholar 2020. John has extensive experience of developing nursing, medical and higher education internationally having worked to develop teachers and practice in China, Thailand, Vietnam, Ghana, Bahrain, Hungary, Ukraine and Grenada (West Indies). John trained as a nurse in Sunderland and worked in a variety of acute ward settings before moving into district nursing. He completed his specialist practitioner qualification in district nursing in 1997 and he has worked in a variety of roles including district nursing, as a specialist nurse and nurse consultant. He has a PhD from Robert Gordon University which specifically examined the influence of health care organisations on innovation and development. John is an alumnus of the QNI Innovation and Creative Practice Awards and is a Queen’s Nurse. John was awarded an OBE for services to community nursing and community nurse education in the Queen’s Birthday Honours in 2022. 

Professor Laura Serrant CBE is a multi-award-winning Leadership development and Inclusive practice specialist, professional speaker, and experienced coach. She is Director her Leadership Development and Executive Coaching business, Laura Serrant Limited. Laura works with individuals and organisations to help them meet their personal aspirations, corporate and social responsibilities of optimising inclusive practice to improve their business impact, client experiences and deliver their best of themselves. Author of over 100 articles, including edited books, she is one of the BBC Expert women and was named as the 8th most influential Black person in Britain by the Power list UK. In 2 was awarded a CBE for services to Nursing

As Deputy Vice Chancellor, Brian’s strategic portfolio covers learning, teaching, research and knowledge exchange.

He is both a mental health and adult nurse and has been a registered nurse for 39 years.

Brian has been leading on the creation of the Pears Cumbria School of Medicine, a partnership with Imperial College London, which opens in 2025.

He has an extensive national and international profile and previously held the post of Chair of the Council of Deans of Health UK.

Brian was awarded an OBE in the King’s Birthday Honours in 2024 and was recognised as a QNI Fellow in 2022.

Professor John Unsworth is the Interim Deputy Faculty Pro Vice Chancellor at Northumbria University. He has a background in community nursing practice, education, management and research. Prior to his current post John has worked as the Head of Learning and Teaching, University of Sunderland, Head of Academic Development at the Higher Education Academy and as Director of Nursing Programmes at Northumbria University. He is an experienced NHS manager having been a Nurse Director in a rural Care Trust in Northern England prior to taking up posts in Higher Education. He has experience of workforce redesign in relation to developing the community nurses’ role around admission avoidance. John is also an International Council of Nurses (ICN) Global Nursing Leadership Scholar 2020. John has extensive experience of developing nursing, medical and higher education internationally having worked to develop teachers and practice in China, Thailand, Vietnam, Ghana, Bahrain, Hungary, Ukraine and Grenada (West Indies). John trained as a nurse in Sunderland and worked in a variety of acute ward settings before moving into district nursing. He completed his specialist practitioner qualification in district nursing in 1997 and he has worked in a variety of roles including district nursing, as a specialist nurse and nurse consultant. He has a PhD from Robert Gordon University which specifically examined the influence of health care organisations on innovation and development. John is an alumni of the QNI Innovation and Creative Practice Awards and is a Queen’s Nurse. John was awarded an OBE for services to community nursing and community nurse education in the Queen’s Birthday Honours in 2022.  

Professor Van-Tam is a pioneering epidemiologist, public health advocate and former Deputy Chief Medical Officer for England (2017 – 2022).

From October 2017 until March 2022 JVT was seconded to the Department of Health and Social Care, England as Deputy Chief Medical Officer where his portfolio was vaccines, pharmaceuticals, health protection, and biosecurity. In that role he has been extensively involved in domestic vaccines policy, seasonal influenza, infectious disease incidents (Ebola, Monkey Pox), the Novichok attack, and the Covid-19 pandemic, including every aspect of the successful UK vaccine procurement and deployment programme. He was a member of the UK Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) and co-Chair of the Global Health Security Advisory Group (GHSAG) Pandemic Influenza Working Group (PIWG). He has received multiple awards and accolades for his public communication of science and was awarded a Knighthood for services to Public Health in 2022.

Prior to his appointment as Chief Nursing Officer for England in July 2024, Duncan held the post of Deputy Chief Nursing Officer for England. In this role, he led the maternity and neonatal programme and the children and young people’s transformation programme, as well as nursing workforce policy and infection prevention and control.

Duncan has spent his entire career in nursing in the NHS and has held a variety of leadership and executive roles. Duncan is passionate about improving patient care and experience, improving the population’s health, growing, developing and nurturing the workforce, and inspiring the next generation of nursing and midwifery professionals and leaders.

Anne Armstrong was appointed Interim Chief Nursing Officer in April 2024.

She was previously Deputy Chief Nursing Officer. As Chief Nursing Officer, Anne has professional responsibility for two thirds of the NHS Scotland workforce, as her role has responsibility for nursing, midwifery, allied healthcare professionals and healthcare scientists. Anne also leads on a number of key policy areas, including infection prevention control. She joined Scottish Government in January 2020 as the Nurse Advisor – Mental Health from NHS Lanarkshire. Anne previously worked in the NHS for many years both within NHS Greater Glasgow and Lanarkshire.

Paul is a registered nurse with over 38 years of experience and currently provides professional advice to Ministers, the Welsh Government and the Welsh NHS on primary and community care. Becoming a Fellow of the Queens Nursing Institute in 2023. His previous roles include deputy director of nursing roles as well as senior management roles within the NHS in both acute and community organisations. Paul has undertaken leadership studies at Harvard and visited integrated community services in the Netherland to support his work. Paul provides the nursing voice for decarbonisation and climate change within Welsh Government. He is the author of a number of papers including national guidance in Wales.

I qualified as a Registered General Nurse from the Western Area College of Nursing  in Derry / Londonderry in September 1992.  I worked for a short time in Ophthalmology in the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast before moving to Gynaecology in the Mid Ulster Hospital in Magherafelt.  During my time there I undertook on a part-time basis a BSc (Hons) in Health Studies, via the University of Manchester & RCN, completing in 1999.   I left in 2000 to undertake my Specialist Community Public Health Nursing (Health Visiting) Post graduate programme at the University of Ulster and worked as a Health Visitor in various capacities until 2020.  In December 2020, I took on the role of leading the Covid Vaccination team within the Northern Trust until I moved on a secondment to the Department of Health in April 2023 as Nursing Officer for Public Health.  I have started studying for a Masters in Health Promotion & Public Health at Ulster University in September 2024.

Fionnuala is an RGN, with a nursing career spanning 34 years.  Fionnuala spent 19 of those years as Tissue Viability Nurse Lead, working across all four fields of practice within primary and secondary care, and completing a post graduate diploma in wound healing and Tissue Repair at Cardiff University. 

In 2017, Fionnuala completed a Quality Improvement Fellowship and was bitten by the ‘QI Bug’, tempting her out of her Tissue Viability role, for which, she was incredibly passionate, and into a newly established role as Quality Improvement and Governance Lead for nursing in primary care. 

When another new regional role, of Senior Lead Nurse for Quality and Assurance, was established, Fionnuala was the first of six nurses, one from each HSC Trust, to be appointed in October 2021.  This group of senior nurses formed the regional Nursing & Midwifery Quality and Assurance Network (NMQAN), their biggest challenge being the review and refresh of regional Nursing Quality Indicators within the acute and community Sectors.

Fionnuala was in the first cohort of nurses and midwives to complete the Collective Leadership Diploma in the University of Ulster in 2023. Fionnuala took up her current post as Nursing Officer for Older People within the department of Health, seven weeks ago, and is, as always, looking forward to a new challenge and the possibility of influencing policy in relation to our growing, older population.

Barbara Stilwell is a nurse and public health specialist with a decades long interest in supporting health workers. She has worked for the World Health Organization and for non-profit organizations as a technical specialist and has been based in the middle east and sub-Saharan Africa. Stilwell returned to the UK to head the global advocacy campaign, Nursing Now from 2018-2021. She currently works as a consultant, working on nurse leadership as well as with a World Bank team in Libya to strengthen nursing there. She is the author of 'Global Health and Nursing: a new narrative for the 21st Century'.

Thea Stein is the Chief Executive of the Nuffield Trust. She took up the post in September 2023.Thea was previously Chief Executive at Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust, and before then Chief Executive of Carers Trust, Yorkshire Forward and Northeast Leeds Primary Care Trust. Thea has also held a number of non-executive roles in housing organisations and academia. Thea was a trustee of the Nuffield Trust between 2019 and 2023.

Professor John Unsworth is the Interim Deputy Faculty Pro Vice Chancellor at Northumbria University. He has a background in community nursing practice, education, management and research. Prior to his current post John has worked as the Head of Learning and Teaching, University of Sunderland, Head of Academic Development at the Higher Education Academy and as Director of Nursing Programmes at Northumbria University. He is an experienced NHS manager having been a Nurse Director in a rural Care Trust in Northern England prior to taking up posts in Higher Education. He has experience of workforce redesign in relation to developing the community nurses’ role around admission avoidance. John is also an International Council of Nurses (ICN) Global Nursing Leadership Scholar 2020. John has extensive experience of developing nursing, medical and higher education internationally having worked to develop teachers and practice in China, Thailand, Vietnam, Ghana, Bahrain, Hungary, Ukraine and Grenada (West Indies). John trained as a nurse in Sunderland and worked in a variety of acute ward settings before moving into district nursing. He completed his specialist practitioner qualification in district nursing in 1997 and he has worked in a variety of roles including district nursing, as a specialist nurse and nurse consultant. He has a PhD from Robert Gordon University which specifically examined the influence of health care organisations on innovation and development. John is an alumni of the QNI Innovation and Creative Practice Awards and is a Queen’s Nurse. John was awarded an OBE for services to community nursing and community nurse education in the Queen’s Birthday Honours in 2022.  

Dr Crystal Oldman CBE joined the QNI in November 2012 as Chief Executive. Crystal worked in the NHS for 18 years, the majority of which was in the field of community nursing, working with some of the most deprived communities in west London. She has a passion for learning, teaching and research to support best practice and in 1994 joined Buckinghamshire New University as a senior lecturer, to develop a variety of community nursing programmes. Crystal enjoyed an academic career for a further 18 years, completing her Higher Education career as Dean of Enterprise and Business Management in the Faculty of Society & Health, where her role included the development of partnerships with external agencies to promote research and assist in workforce development. Crystal’s interest in leadership and management inspired her doctoral studies into the knowledge, skills and attributes of middle managers and this research was completed in 2014. She was awarded a CBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List in 2017 for services to community nursing and her leadership of the QNI.