Chief Nursing Officer (United Kingdom) Explained

The Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) is the most senior advisor on nursing matters in a government. There are CNOs in the United Kingdom who are appointed to advise their respective governments: His Majesty's Government, the Northern Ireland Executive, the Scottish Government, and the Welsh Government. Each CNO is assisted by one or more Deputy Chief Nursing Officers, and are complemented by a Chief Medical Officer.

Chief Nursing Officers for England

The Chief Nursing Officer is based at the Department of Health (and its predecessors).

• 1941 to 1948: Dame Katherine Watt^[1]
• 1948 to 1958: Dame Elizabeth Cockayne^[2]
• 1958 to 1972: Dame Kathleen Raven^[3]
• 1972 to 1982: Dame Phyllis Friend^[4]
• 1982 to 1992: Dame Anne Poole^[5]
• 1992 to 1999: Dame Yvonne Moores^[6]
• 1999 to 2004: Dame Sarah Mullally^[7]
• 2004 to 2012: Dame Christine Beasley^[8]
• 2012 to 2019: Jane Cummings^[9]
• 2019 to 2024: Dame Ruth May^[10]
• 2024 to present: Duncan Burton ^[11]

Chief Nursing Officers for Scotland

thumb|Shirley-Anne Somerville, Nicola Sturgeon and Fiona McQueen briefing Scotland during the COVID-19 pandemic in September 2020The Chief Nursing Officers for Scotland is based at the Scottish Government and previously at the Scottish Office.

• 1939 to 1944: Margaret Colville Marshall .^{[12] [13] [14] [15]}
• 1944 to 1961: Mary Olivia Robinson.^{[13] [16]}
• 1961 to 1969: Margaret Macnaughton.^{[17] [18] [19]}
• 1970 to 1976: Dame Muriel Powell^[20]
• 1977 to 1988: Margaret Gibson Auld^{[21] [22]}
• 1988 to 1992: Dame Yvonne Moores
• 1992 to 2004: Anne Jarvie
• 2004 to 2009: Paul Martin
• 2010 to 2014: Rosalyn Elaine Moore^[23]
• 2015 to 2020: Fiona McQueen^[24]
• 2020 to 2021: Prof Amanda Croft^[25]
• 2022 onwards Prof Alex McMahon^[26]

Chief Nursing Officers for Wales

• 1972 to 1981: Edith Alice Bell^[27]
• 1982 to 1988: Dame Yvonne Moores^[6]
• 1999 to 2010: Rosemary Kennedy
• 2010 to 2021: Jean White^[28]
• 2021 to 2021: Gareth Howells (interim)
• 2021 to present: Sue Tranka

Chief Nursing Officers for Northern Ireland

The Chief Nursing Officer for Northern Ireland is based at the Department of Health (Northern Ireland) (and its processors).

• 1960 to 1975: Mona Grey^[29]
• 1995 to 2005: Judith Hill^[30]
• 2005 to 2011: Martin Bradley^[31]
• 2013 to 2021: Charlotte McArdle^[32]
• 2021 to present: Maria McIlgorm^[33]

See also

• Chief Dental Officers (United Kingdom)
• Chief Medical Officers (United Kingdom)

Notes and References

1. 'WATT, Dame Katherine Christie', Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2016; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2014; online edn, April 2014 accessed 18 Oct 2017
2. 'COCKAYNE, Dame Elizabeth', Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2016; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2014 ; online edn, April 2014 accessed 18 Oct 2017
3. Sheila Quinn, 'Raven, Dame Kathleen Annie (1910–1999)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 accessed 18 Oct 2017
4. 'FRIEND, Dame Phyllis (Muriel)', Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2016; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2016; online edn, April 2016 accessed 18 Oct 2017
5. 'POOLE, Dame (Avril) Anne (Barker)', Who's Who 2017, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 2017; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2016; online edn, Nov 2016 accessed 18 Oct 2017
6. 'MOORES, Dame Yvonne', Who's Who 2017, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 2017; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2016; online edn, Nov 2016 accessed 18 Oct 2017
7. 'CREDITON, Bishop Suffragan of', Who's Who 2017, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 2017; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2016; online edn, Nov 2016 accessed 18 Oct 2017
8. 'BEASLEY, Dame Christine (Joan)', Who's Who 2017, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 2017; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2016; online edn, Nov 2016 accessed 18 Oct 2017
9. Web site: Posts by Professor Jane Cummings. NHS England. 18 October 2017.
10. Web site: Professor Jane Cummings announces she is retiring from the post of Chief Nursing Officer for England. NHS England. 1 July 2019.
11. Web site: New chief nursing officer for England announced. NHS England. 29 July 2024.
12. The Scotsman, 9 August 1944, p. 4. The title was then "Principal Matron and Chief Nursing Sister of the Department of Health for Scotland".
13. The Scotsman, 30 September 1944, p. 3. The office was then "Chief Nursing Sister".
14. Post-basic Nursing Education: Report of a Conference Sponsored by the European Office of the World Health Organization in Collaboration with the Government of the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland and with the Assistance of the Dept. of Health for Scotland: Peebles, 12–26 June 1956 (1956), p. viii.
15. https://archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/search/archives/305070ee-8e41-366c-8e5e-c3e1b62b8230 "Marshall, Margaret Colville"
16. Hospital Health and Management, vol. 24 (1961), p. 305.
17. "Obituary", The Times (London, England), 3 January 1969, p.8.
18. Nursing Mirror and Midwives Journal, vol. 128, issues 1-13, p. 6.
19. Hospital Management, vol. 31 (1969), p. 32.
20. 'POWELL, Dame Muriel', Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2016; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2014; online edn, April 2014 accessed 18 Oct 2017
21. 'AULD, Margaret Gibson', Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2016; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2014; online edn, April 2014 accessed 18 Oct 2017
22. News: Dopson. Laurence. Margaret Auld: Nurse who worked tirelessly to raise the status of her profession. 18 October 2017. The Independent. 7 December 2010. 19 October 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171019004754/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/margaret-auld-nurse-who-worked-tirelessly-to-raise-the-status-of-her-profession-2152955.html. dead.
23. 'MOORE, Rosalyn Elaine, (Mrs Stephen Littler)', Who's Who 2017, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 2017; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2016; online edn, Nov 2016 accessed 18 Oct 2017
24. Web site: Fiona McQueen - gov.scot. Scottish Government. 18 October 2017.
25. Web site: Mitchell. Gemma. 23 December 2020. Scotland announces appointment of new chief nursing officer. 24 February 2021. Nursing Times. en.
26. Web site: Chief Nursing Officer . 2023-12-11 . www.gov.scot . en.
27. 'BELL, Edith Alice', Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2016; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2014; online edn, April 2014 accessed 18 Oct 2017
28. Web site: Professor Jean White CBE. The Nursing and Midwifery Council. 18 October 2017.
29. Web site: Mona Grey: Health care advocate and Northern Ireland's first chief nursing officer . Dopson . Laurence . 23 October 2011 . . 10 May 2021.
30. 'HILL, Dame Judith (Eileen)', Who's Who 2017, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 2017; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2016; online edn, Nov 2016 accessed 18 Oct 2017
31. Web site: Professor Martin Bradley. The Queen's Nursing Institute. 18 October 2017.
32. Web site: Professor Charlotte McArdle – NIPEC. Northern Ireland Practice and Education Council for Nursing and Midwifery. 19 October 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171019221340/http://www.nipec.hscni.net/about-us/council-membership/nipec-council-profcharlottemcardle/. 19 October 2017. dead.
33. Web site: 2015-10-13 . DoH Chief Nursing Officer Department of Health . 2023-12-11 . Health . en.