Chief Nursing Officer for England Jane Cummings to share vision on future of healthcare services with students as visiting professor at Kingston University and St George's, University of London

Posted Friday 17 June 2016

England's Chief Nursing Officer Professor Jane Cummings will share her vision for the future of patient care with staff and students at Kingston University and St George's, University of London after becoming a visiting professor at the two institutions' Faculty of Health, Social Care and Education.

Professor Cummings is the professional lead for thousands of nurses, midwives and care assistants across England and recently launched the ‘Leading Change, Adding Value' framework. Her new appointment in the Faculty, run jointly by Kingston and St George's, will see her deliver seminars and share her extensive expertise of the healthcare sector. She will also maintain her leadership role within NHS England and continue as the Government's principal adviser on nursing and midwifery.

Head of the Faculty's School of Nursing Dr Julia Gale said Professor Cummings' appointment provided a platform for Kingston and St George's to participate further in national conversations about the development of the profession. "Professor Cummings appointment enhances our reputation as one of the country's leading providers of healthcare education," she said. "She will provide our student nurses with a fantastic role model in nursing leadership and her efforts to put compassion at the very heart of patient care will be a great inspiration to our students and academics alike."

Left to right: Professor Tom Quinn, Professor Jane Cummings, Dr Julia Gale, Dr Val Collington, Professor Andy Kent. Professor Tom Quinn, Professor Jane Cummings, Dr Julia Gale, Dr Val Collington and Professor Andy Kent at the Faculty's graduation ceremony.Professor Cummings attended the Faculty's annual graduation ceremony last month and said it was energising to see student nurses setting out to carve their careers in the profession. "Nurses and midwives have a critical role to play in compassionate and safe care for patients - whether in a direct care-giving role, commissioning, policy, research or education," she said. "Whatever our responsibility, we all have the same aim of providing the most effective care and the best experience for our service users."

Professor Cummings is looking forward to working with current and future students at the Faculty of Health, Social Care and Education to develop their knowledge and understanding of building sustainable health and care services for the future. She worked for the NHS in a number of roles before becoming Chief Nursing Officer in 2012, and is keen to introduce the ‘Leading Change, Adding Value' framework to both universities. "The framework positions nursing, midwifery and care staff as leaders both individually and collectively, to help design the future of the NHS and to use their influence to manage today's challenges. Aligned with the NHS Five Year Forward View, it explains how all nursing, midwifery and care staff can focus their work to help reduce gaps in health and wellbeing, care and quality, and funding and efficiency," she added.

Find out more about undergraduate and postgraduate health, social care and education courses at Kingston University and St George's, University of London.

Categories: Expert opinion, On campus, Research, Staff, Students