NHS England and NHS Improvement have announced the first two joint Regional Chief Nurse appointments. The aim is to provide clear joint leadership and greater collaboration across both organisations to ensure delivery of strategic aims and ultimately better care for patients.

The South has appointed Sue Doheny and London has appointed Professor Oliver Shanley, OBE.

In their joint roles, Sue and Oliver will provide professional leadership to all members of the nursing and midwifery professions in their region, bringing greater clarity for front line staff.  The roles will discharge the regulatory and statutory functions for which both organisations are accountable.

Sue has been a Board level director in the NHS for over nine years. Her clinical director roles have been in provider and commissioning organisations across different health and social care economies.  Sue started her nursing career in London following her training in Cardiff.  Following the birth of her first daughter she moved to Herefordshire to work as a community nurse in intermediate care and then worked in the West Midlands in various roles.

Sue said:  “I am delighted to be taking up this new role working with the nursing and midwidery teams both at NHS England South and at NHS Improvement South.  I hope that by having a single professional nursing and midwifery leader for the region we will be able to work more closely together for the benefit of both organisations and for the benefit of patients.”

Oliver has most recently been Deputy Chief Executive and Director of Quality and Safety (Chief Nurse) at Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust, where he has been in post for seven years. This is one of the country’s largest and most complex mental health and learning disability Trusts, providing services to four counties. He has worked at an Executive Director level for twelve years, is a Visiting Professor at the University of Hertfordshire, and is a Registered Mental Health Nurse (RMN), having started his nursing career in 1990. His considerable experience and skills are underpinned by a strong commitment to nursing, quality, and improving clinical practice.  Oliver was awarded his OBE for services to mental health and learning disability in 2016.

Oliver said: “‘I am thrilled to have been appointed to the role of Regional Chief Nurse for London. It is a fantastic opportunity to promote nurses and midwives and ensure we continue to deliver high quality care whilst being at the forefront of continuous improvements across the NHS.”

Both posts report to their respective NHS England and NHS Improvement regional directors who have described them as a significant development in the collaborative working arrangements now in place between NHS England and NHS Improvement, and a chance to strengthen the joint working and quality agendas across the NHS.

Professor Jane Cummings, Chief Nursing Officer for England, has welcomed the two joint appointments.  She said:  “I am very pleased at this new approach to joint Chief Nurse roles and we have appointed two very experienced health professionals. They will be able to coordinate and lead our professions in their regions, working closely with me as CNO, Ruth May and Hilary Garratt and enable us to develop our response to the challenges ahead.”

Dr Ruth May, Executive Director of Nursing for NHS Improvement, said:  “These joint appointments will strengthen our ability to provide great nursing leadership across London and the South.  It will build on the support we provide to the nursing community and to the wider NHS on the important role that nursing care plays in the health service.  I look forward to working with Sue and Oliver.”