Meet the team
The new steering committee for the Nurses in Management and Leadership Forum was formed in October 2011.
Jane Valle (Chair)
Clinical Lead, United Health UK
Jane was appointed to the Nurses in Management and Leadership Forum committee in 2010 and in November 2011 became the Forum Chair.
Jane has more than 20 years experience as a Nurse; after completing a BSc(Hons) in Environmental Science at the University of East Anglia, she completed her RGN training at the Broadland School of Nursing in Norfolk. Her clinical career has been in care of the elderly, long term conditions, end of life care and rehabilitation and includes work in the NHS and independent sectors. Jane also worked as a Nurse Practitioner in one of the first NHS Walk in Centres. She has worked in hospital, community, care home and clinic settings as a clinician, manager and clinical leader and is committed to nursing and the contribution she can make to patient care as a nurse leader. Her experience includes implementing & managing change (including evaluating its effects), operational & resource management, multidisciplinary and multiagency working, teaching (delivering formal and informal teaching) and mentoring. She was a member of a Research Ethics Committee for nine years.
Jane’s current role is as Clinical Lead for UnitedHealth UK (part of UnitedHealth Group - a global health and well-being company) this includes clinical leadership in commissioning acute services, partnership working, developing new service delivery models, assessing service provision and undertaking data and case note audits.
As the chair of the forum, Jane will continue to work with the other committee and forum members to ensure that the forum supports nurse leaders and provides a strong voice for them within the RCN.
Josephine Johnson
Matron, Universal Children's Services, Harrogate and District Foundation Trust
I have been a registered nurse for 25 years; working in acute settings for 8 years and the rest of the time in the community. I am a qualified School Nurse with two BSC (hons) degrees, a PGCert Ed and a MSc in Public Health. I am also a member of the British Journal of School Nursing Editorial Board.
I work as a Matron for Children's Universal Services (Health Visiting and School Nursing)across the county of North Yorkshire and employed by Harrogate and District Foundation Trust.
I worked with PCT commissioners for 4 years until 2011 for one day a week as a Clinical Executive member providing clinical challenge and expertise around service redesign.
I am currently completing a Children's Services Succession Planning Course at Masters level which means I am working with colleagues from across different agencies across the Yorkshire and the Humber Region.
I get my energy from working with people and thrive on facilitating solution focused approaches to problem solving.
I believe in coaching as a tool to develop the potential in each other and would be delighted to be contacted if any of my experience can be of help.
My email address is Josephine.johnson@hdft.nhs.uk
Virginia (Ginny) Colwell
Ginny has worked independently since 2003 as a healthcare consultant and individual and organisational coach. she also holds a Non-Executive Director position for a co-owned community healthcare organisation and is Deputy Chair of a hospice. She has extensive senior management experience and is greatly interested in organisational culture, governance and the use of coaching to fulfil potential.
Ginny trained as a nurse at GOS and UCLH. On returning from the USA she gained her first Sisters post at GOS and then worked her way up through nursing and general management. She left GOS as Deputy Director of Nursing to become DNS at the Royal Surrey County Hospital and from there, Head of Nursing for Nuffield Hospitals. She then moved to become the Lead Nurse for Surrey and Sussex SHA.
She has a post graduate diploma in management studied and a MA in individual and organisational development.
Ellie Gordon
Clinical and Transformational Lead, NHS Continuing Healthcare
I started my nursing career as mental health nurse in a forensic setting where I stayed for 4 years. During this time I became increasingly aware of the links between mental health and addiction, and the issues this caused.
To further this interest I studied at and then took up a post within Leeds Addiction Unit, often referred to as an international centre of excellence, where is started as an addiction therapist and worked my way up to being a clinical nurse specialist and line manager.
As time moved on I wanted to take on more management responsibility and develop my skills as a manager, so I moved to Wakefield to set up and run an alcohol service.
As part of this role I managed to expand my management skills, but did not lose site of the need to enhance and develop my clinical side. So when offered to complete the Non- Medical Prescriber course I jumped at the chance, and qualified in 2005.
Since this time I have moved into commissioning and am currently working as part of a Commissioning Support Unit, as a clinical and transformational lead for NHS Continuing Healthcare. Whilst this time has been challenging I have been fortunate enough to manage a dedicated and resilient team, and together we continue to forge ahead and commission high quality care within current financial restraints.
At the same time I have , as always, retained a clinical element to my work. I also locum on a specialist addictions service as a non- medical prescriber. This works well as it ensures that as a commissioner I remain close to the ‘shop floor’, and reminds me that the most important person in commissioning is always the patient.
Chris Butler
Chief Executive, Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
I joined the RCN as a student mental health nurse in 1978. I trained at the same hospital – Hill End Hospital in St Albans – as Peter Carter. I then went on to train as a State Registered Nurse.
It was as a student that I became deeply involved in the politics of healthcare. I rapidly became an RCN Steward and later a member of what was then the RCN’s Stewards National Committee, also a member of the then Committee on Labour Relations (both of these names show how old I am!). At the same time I was also very involved with my local Branch whilst being supportive of the work of Forums, such as Mental Health Nursing
Most of my clinical career was spent working in mental health nursing. At one point the comedian Jo Brand was my boss. My last full time clinical role was as the Senior Charge Nurse of the Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit at the Maudsley Hospital in South London. It was tough work but very rewarding.
It was suggested to me that I might want to try my hand at management and I worked my way up from Senior Nurse to Assistant Unit General Manager. In 1991 I left the NHS and joined the Department of Health eventually becoming one of the Department’s Assistant Chief Nursing Officers working with the then Chief Nursing Officer, Dame Yvonne Moores.
I returned to the NHS in 1997 as the Director of Operations and Nursing, later the Chief Nurse and Deputy Chief Executive, of what became the South West London and St Georges Mental Health NHS Trust. In 2002 I was appointed as the Chief Executive of the Kingston Primary Care Trust. In 2005 I was appointed as the Chief Executive of the Leeds Mental Health Teaching NHS Trust, which in August 2007 became an NHS Foundation Trust. In February 2012 we became the Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust.
During the whole of my career I have stayed close to the work of the RCN. I joined the RCN in 1978 specifically because I had a deep belief in its broader objectives for our profession and I still do. I also have a strongly held view that for people who use the NHS to have the best possible experience it is critical for nurses to fully engage with management and leadership issues, both professionally and in general management.
Though in a management role, I am very proud to be a nurse and I look forward to working with other members of the Committee to ensure that those working in management and leadership can make the fullest possible contribution to developing nursing, midwifery and health visiting and, of course, our RCN.
Judi Ingram
Executive Director, Aspen Healthcare
I have worked in healthcare for over thirty years, training as a registered nurse at Kings College, London with most of my clinical career being spent primarily within the specialties of surgery and accident and emergency.
I have worked in various senior management and leadership roles, in the pre-hospital, primary, secondary care and strategic health authority settings, in operational management, quality improvement, and assistant nurse director and director roles. I have led the launch of NHS Direct to the East Anglian counties; have worked at a Strategic Health Authority as the urgent care lead, and also as a locality chief operating officer in an Ambulance Trust moving to the independent sector in 2009. I have a nursing degree, postgraduate diploma in management studies, and have undertaken the Kings Fund Nurse Leadership two year programme. In addition I am currently completing an MSc in Integrated Governance in Healthcare Communities.
I joined Aspen Healthcare in October 2012 as the Executive Director accountable for leading on all safety and quality assurance activities related to patient safety and clinical quality governance. Prior to this I was Assistant Clinical Director and Chief Nurse for the Bupa Group leading on clinical governance activities and was the nursing professional lead for the nursing communities across Bupa’s businesses worldwide. I am also a Professional Advisor for the Care Quality Commission.
I am committed to ensuring that every opportunity is utilised to ensure nurse leadership is central to the highest quality of care and services and am excited to have just joined the Nurses in Management and Leadership Forum committee in January 2013.
My email address is judi.ingram@aspen-healthcare.co.uk