Heather has a background in nursing and midwifery and has always had an interest in clinical audit, she has worked in NHS quality management since 1999. She has gained a wealth of experience over her career in a variety of healthcare settings, but quality and safety have always been her primary focus. 

Heather graduated from the Health Services Management Centre at Birmingham University with an MSc in Managing Quality in Healthcare in 2005. In 2009 she was appointed as Primary Care Trust Governor for Mid Staffordshire Hospitals following the first investigation. Heather used this experience to drive quality improvements for all local providers which still operate today. During 2014, Heather supported Burton Hospitals through their Keogh review and contributed to driving improvements enabling them to come out of special measures.    

As the single Director of Nursing and Quality for the six Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Clinical Commissioning Groups, Heather has been responsible for all aspects of high quality, safe patient care since 2017. In March 2019, Heather was awarded a Visiting Fellowship with Staffordshire University which has recently been extended to 2025. 

As Chief Nursing and Therapies Officer designate for the NHS Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Integrated Care Board (ICB), Heather will support the ICB in delivering its key priorities, including improving quality of care and people’s experiences of services across the system and will play a key role in the clinical leadership of nurses and allied health professionals.