Sue Tanka, the Deputy Chief Nursing Officer for NHS England & Improvement, has been appointed as the new Chief Nursing Officer for Wales.
Sue will take over the role following the retirement of Dr Jean White, who held the CNO role for 10 years. She’s set to join the Welsh Government in summer 2021.
Andrew Goodall, Chief Executive, NHS Wales commented: “I look forward to working with Sue in her new role and to support her leadership of the nursing profession in Wales. Sue joins us following one of the biggest challenges the National Health Service has ever faced and at a time when we need to reset the NHS following the pandemic response. Sue’s extensive knowledge will help support the nursing and midwifery teams across Wales as we look to the future.”
Sue joined NHS England and Improvement in January 2020, having held positions at Ashford & St Peter’s NHS FT as the Chief Nurse, Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust as the Deputy Chief Nurse and North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust as the Associate Director of Patient Safety. She trained as a midwife, is a registered general nurse, mental health and community nurse, and brings a wealth of expertise in critical care nursing from across the globe.
On her appointment, Sue said: “I am honoured and privileged to be taking up the role of the Chief Nursing Officer for Wales. It is exciting to be joining the team in Wales as we look to the future and build on the learning from the past year.
“Ongoing support for nursing and midwifery colleagues has never been more important than right now, and I look forward to meeting, listening and talking with teams as we reflect on the incredible response from the workforce to this unprecedented global health threat.”
