Duncan Burton was appointed to the role of Chief Nursing Officer for England and Executive Director at NHS England on 25 July 2024.

The chief nursing officer for England (CNO) is supported by the chief midwifery officer, four deputy chief nursing officers and seven regional chief nurses. He is responsible for providing clinical and professional leadership for all nurses, midwives and nursing associates across health and social care in England, including the 373,000 nurses and midwives who work for the NHS and who make up the largest group of the total NHS workforce, as well as the nurses working in public health and those in the independent sector.

He also provides clinical and workforce advice to the NHS and the board of NHS England, and to ministers and officials in the Department of Health and Social Care on relevant issues.

A workforce that is fit for the future

Ensuring the right teams are in place is crucial to the delivery of the Long term plan. To achieve this, we need to:

• Recruit and retain enough people with the skills required.
• Build places of work that are rewarding, positive and filled with opportunity.
• Develop the quality of our management and leadership at every level.
• Tackle inequality and break down the barriers that are preventing too many from reaching their potential.
• Create an infrastructure that enables more volunteers to support our front-line staff.