NHS England is pleased to announce that Andrea Lewis has been appointed as the South East’s Regional Chief Nurse.

Andrea has joined the region from Ashford and St Peter’s Hospital NHS Foundation Trust where she was Chief Nurse for over three years. She has taken over the role of Acosia Nyanin who worked in the region since July 2021.

Andrea, who spent 21 years working in clinical roles in the army before joining the NHS, said: “I’m absolutely delighted and feel very privileged to be joining NHS England, working with a great team and a fantastic group of chief nurses across the region.

“The planning and support over the next six months will be instrumental in getting us through winter pressures. I’m looking forward to the challenges that present themselves but also continuing the improvement work underway. Although not exhaustive, areas of particular focus for me will be continuing the maternity and neonatal improvement work for the region as well as a successful Patient Safety Incident Response Framework implementation.

“With my military experience, leadership is an area that is very close to my heart, and I look forward to supporting improving such capability across all staff groups, but particularly within our nursing and AHP workforce.”

Andrea graduated with a BSc in Infection Control and an MSc in Healthcare Management and Policy. She joined Ashford and St Peter’s Hospitals in April 2017 after spending 21 years working in clinical roles in the Army within the Queen Alexandra’s Royal Army Nursing Corps, before taking on a number of healthcare management roles. She has deployed with Field Hospitals to Bosnia and Iraq and latterly was in charge of the UK Military Hospital in Camp Bastion, Afghanistan.