South East

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Zoe Scullard - Head of Commissioning and Deputy Head of Nursing and Midwifery

Zoe started her career in the NHS 40 years ago and has also worked in higher education.  She is a registered nurse and nurse lecturer and has worked in primary, secondary and tertiary care; in A&E, ITU, in a hospice, as a practice nurse, night nurse practitioner and immunisation specialist nurse. Zoe worked as a senior lecturer, and director of practice in a south east university. She has worked and led on several projects including the introduction of a pan London placement agreement and a standard practice assessment document and design for pre-registration student nurses.  

Zoe has worked for HEE since 2013 and was responsible for the development of the tier one dementia training which was rolled out nationally. She currently leads on the implementation and monitoring of the NHS education contract, and procurement and commissioning of education and training for clinical professions and supporting the nursing 50k programme across the south east.

Agnes Hibbert - Programme Lead Nursing

Currently focusing on the domestic nursing supply, Agnes coordinates key strategic programmes that impact on the capacity and capability of nurses and midwives working in multi-disciplinary teams across the region.  

Agnes’ career has chiefly been the support of education of nurses and midwives in the care provided to patients through the application of physiology and evidence-based practice. As a registered nurse Agnes studied medical sciences (modular degree), MSc. comparative physiology and her doctorate (exploring the impact of shift patterns on nurses). Agnes’ experience spans further education, higher education including Royal College of Nursing (RCN) Institute, National Health Service University (NHSU) and the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) (Fitness to Practise).

Claire Wardle - Programme Lead (Nurse Expansion)

Claire is the regional return to practice and nursing associate lead. Claire also supports healthcare support workers, apprenticeships, career and school engagement and widening participation.  Claire is an adult nurse by background in acute settings with over 20 years in medicine and acute vascular surgery. She then moved into education where she gained her masters in education and practice development. Claire is passionate about supporting learners to develop themselves to the fullest of their potential and help achieve their aspirations. 

Juliet Borwell - Practice Learning Programme Lead

Juliet is a registered nurse (adult) by background, with a long career that has been focused on practice education, facilitation and development across health and education settings.  

Over the years Juliet has been directly involved with many aspects of learning and development, ranging from teaching clinical skills, supporting the design of new programme and curricula and quality assurance of learning environments.  Juliet has led initiatives such as the implementation of coaching models for supervision and is passionate about supporting the development of learning environments that nurture and nourish individuals at every stage of their career.  

Karen Harrison-White - Post Registration Programme Lead (Nursing)

Karen joined HEE’s south east nursing team in June 2022. Karen is a doctor in education, an honorary professor in Brunel University London and an experienced nurse educator. Karen is particularly interested in the experience of learning in practice. Karen previously worked in the NHS for 18 years and has spent an equivalent time in the HEI sector. Most recently, she established a new school of nursing in Brunel University London and was the head of school. Karen is a dual NMC registrant (adult and children) and her clinical expertise is in adult and paediatric intensive care and retrieval. In addition to a doctorate, Karen is a qualified coach (personal performance and corporate) and she has number of academic qualifications: postgraduate diploma in education and health care ethics; MSc in paediatric critical care (advanced nurse practice).  

Elaine Lancaster - Relationship Manager (Apprenticeships), Talent for Care

Elaine has worked for HEE since its formation in 2012 working in a variety of roles related to pre-registration, non-medical education and training, working across south London.  

She has been supporting employers and education providers to navigate the apprenticeship agenda since pre-levy days and joined the national HEE Talent for Care team in November 2019 as an apprenticeship relationship manager working across the south east, including very closely with the regional nursing and midwifery team. 

Elaine has worked closely on the trainee nursing associate programme since it was introduced in 2016 and more recently has been working with the team on the apprenticeship element of the nurse 50k manifesto commitment. 

Andrea Curling - Maternity and Neonatal Programme Lead and Lead Midwife

Andrea has worked with HEE since February 2021, undertaking the role of the maternity and neonatal programme lead, and the midwifery clinical lead for the south east region. 

Andrea also works part time as the workforce strategy lead for the Kent and Medway local maternity and neonatal system (LMNS), which is part of the NHS Kent and Medway integrated care board (ICB). 

Andrea has over 30 years' experience working in a variety of operational roles as a registered nurse and a registered midwife. She was also a supervisor of midwives and more recently offering clinical supervision and coaching to registrants as a professional midwifery advocate.  

Andrea uses her knowledge and experience to collaborate with colleagues and stakeholders across the south east to plan, shape, and generate the future workforce in maternity and neonatal services. She also works with health and education providers to support training and development needs, bringing multi-professional groups together to improve the culture of those services and for the benefit of the communities that they serve. 

Tiffiney Kent - Maternity and Neonatal Programme Manager

Tiffiney has worked with HEE since August 2018.  Before taking up her current post as maternity and neonatal programme manager, Tiffiney worked as a quality project officer in the quality team monitoring, analysing and acting upon multi-professional quality intelligence, working closely with higher education institutions (HEIs), medical schools and local education providers to ensure that the quality of education and training is of the highest standards and that robust quality control mechanisms are in place. 

Tiffiney has over 25 years’ administration experience working the NHS in various specialties including obstetrics & gynaecology, nursing education and as a vocational learning coordinator.    

Tiffiney currently supports the maternity and neonatal programme lead as project and programme manager for the south east region of HEE.  

Remi Coventry - Programme Support Manager

Rémi works as programme support manager for the south east nursing and midwifery team. He has been with HEE and the NHS since late 2018 having previously worked in translation and captioning for people who are deaf or hard-of-hearing. Rémi primarily supports the 50k nurse expansion programme and the reducing pre-registration attrition and improving retention (RePAIR) programme. While his background is not in nursing, his role predominantly involves communication, planning, reporting and logistics, and the use of technology to manage these areas effectively. 

Debbie Milne - Business Management Support Officer

Debbie is the business management support officer within the south east nursing and midwifery team and supports Prof. John Clark and Zoe Scullard with their day-to-day diary commitments. 

Debbie is an experienced senior administrator and started her career in the women’s royal navy service. 

Debbie joined the NHS in 1999 working in acute and community provider trusts as an administrator and latterly in HEE in 2013 as personal assistant to the director of education and quality in Thames Valley.  In December 2019 she retired, however, returned to HEE in March 2022 to take up her current role.

This section highlights the priorities for the nursing and midwifery team over the next couple of months. 

Listening to the student voice: 

Survey of pre-registration students to understand the financial pressures they experience while on practice placements – survey closed mid-January, analysis ongoing, results and recommendations to be published. 

Focus groups to understand how nursing and midwifery students share their experiences of practice placement – sessions to run mid-February, analysis to be undertaken, results to be published. 

Establishment of student councils in all six ICBs in the south east starting with Kent & Medway ICB. The work involves a collaborative partnership between the education providers and care providers. This work aligns with the student council that HEE commissioned Florence Nightingale Foundation to establish 2021/22.  

Trainee nursing associates and apprenticeships: 

Survey of nursing, midwifery and AHP apprentices to understand the financial pressures they experience while on placement – survey to 2023, analysis to be undertaken, results and recommendations to be published.  

Midwifery:  

Student midwife feedback received at national quality listening events being collated, strategy being developed.   

Post-registration: 

A follow-up webinar to be planned on hearing from postgraduate students on what attracts them to study as a nurse or midwife.

This section will include any opportunities for students to get involved in.