Manjit Darby MBE, Director of Nursing Leadership & Quality at NHS England and NHS Improvement in the Midlands, was honoured on the day of her retirement for her remarkable nursing career by the Chief Nursing Officer for England, Ruth May.

The prestigious Gold Award recognises Manjit’s exceptional and significant contribution to the NHS during a distinguished career in nursing spanning over 36 years.

Manjit’s commitment to compassionate, high quality practice and standards has shone throughout her career as a nurse, a clinical leader and a Director in a variety of leadership roles.

In her current role as Director of Nursing Leadership & Quality across the Midlands Region, Manjit has made a significant contribution to the delivery of safe, high quality services, reducing the risk of harm and improving outcomes for Midlands patients. She has influenced the direction of a number of pieces of important national work, including the national and regional Covid19 response and her leadership and contribution has been valued and recognised across the NHS.

Manjit qualified as a general nurse in 1987 and after working in acute medicine and terminal care undertook mental health nurse training, working in a variety of inpatient and community settings, eventually making best use of her dual qualification as Clinical Nurse Specialist in Liaison Psychiatry and Self Harm before moving out of clinical practice.

After several management roles, Manjit took up the post of Director of Clinical Services in an inner-city Primary Care Trust, working successfully across traditional health and social care boundaries in partnership with other agencies. During this time, she successfully gained a master’s degree in Health Care Management before taking up her current post as the Director of Nursing and Quality within NHS England.

Manjit has made a significant difference in high profile national clinical priorities including Transforming Care and focused on supporting the clinical changes needed across the commissioning and provider landscape to deliver the required outcomes.

Leading the delivery of the Mental Health Forward View, Manjit worked with Sustainability and Transformation Partnerships (STPs), commissioners and providers to support the development of the STP mental health ambition for the population. This has resulted in significant progress and success in achieving the standards required, particularly for dementia, out of area placements and Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT).

As a previous Regional Chair of the Safeguarding Board, Manjit led the work on redesign of STP safeguarding assurance to help systems understand their strengths and weaknesses.

As a Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) leader Manjit has championed equality and diversity in the workplace, recognising the unique challenges faced by BME staff. She has worked very hard over the last 30 years to help improve care for the BME population. This has included working with others on making sure the NHS challenges inequality in health care, improving the pathways for patients and improving awareness of inequality.

Manjit has led work in conjunction with the Chief Nursing Officer’s Black & Minority Ethnic Strategic Advisory Group on understanding the experience of BME nursing and midwifery staff in the workplace, supporting the national and regional BME work programme and mentoring BME staff.

Ruth May, Chief Nursing Officer for England, said:

“Manjit has been an exceptional nurse and leader across her career, a real inspiration and role model for others. She’s made a real difference to so many colleagues and patients alike and the CNO gold award is testament to the thanks we all owe her.”

Siobhan Heafield, the Chief Nurse for the Midlands, said:

“Manjit is an exemplary colleague and will be greatly missed by us all. She is a very positive role model for nursing and has always been committed to helping others. We are incredibly proud of all her achievements and wish her every happiness for the future.”