‘Ministers must listen to the concerns of nursing staff’
STEVE FORD, EDITOR
20 January, 2023 By Ella Devereux
Source:  University of East London
The chief nurse of Health Education England has received an honorary doctorate from the University of East London (UEL).
During the winter graduation ceremony at the Docklands campus yesterday, Professor Mark Radford received the doctorate in science, from vice chancellor and president of UEL, Professor Amanda Broderick.
“I believe strongly in the education of health students”
Mark Radford
Professor Radford is currently the chief nurse and deputy chief executive at HEE as well as a deputy chief nursing officer for England at NHS England.
A qualified nurse since 1994, he has led a varied career spanning clinical practice, education, research and leadership.
Throughout his time in academia he has taught at several universities, including at UEL.
During the school of health, sport and bioscience graduation ceremony, Professor Radford said: “I believe strongly in the education of health students and the links between supporting students both out in practice as well as back at universities.
“I am incredibly proud to receive this honorary doctorate today.”
He told students that the proudest moment of his career came two years ago during the coronavirus pandemic, when he became the national lead for the NHS vaccine workforce programme.
This involved him overseing the phase one delivery of 15 million vaccinations, and training of more than 250,000 people in just a few months.
Professor Radford also led the deployment of student nurses in the pandemic response waves, with 71 universities in England.
He said: “People across the nation, including students, volunteers, universities – everybody played a part in being able to give that vaccination on that first day.
“And here we are, whilst Covid-19 is still around, we are a more open society as a result of people being protected thanks to the work of everyone involved – that has given me a lot of pride.”
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As deputy CNO for England, Professor Radford focuses on workforce, including recruitment and retention, skills development, tackling inequality and maintaining the quality of leadership to ensure that the nursing workforce is fit for the future.
On the current nurse strikes which are taking place across the UK, Professor Radford told students that nurses “quite rightly want their voice heard” around issues of pay, their terms and conditions and the work they do.
“They’ve done an amazing job as lots of staff have over the last two and a half years,” he said.
“It’s really shone a light on how complex and how difficult it is to be a nurse,” he added.
While these industrial disputes are ongoing, and “need to be addressed by government”, nursing is “still a phenomenal career”, Professor Radford told the graduates.
He added: “They’re joining thousands of people who work in lots of different settings up and down the country that has genuinely huge public support and respect for what they do. Not many people can be a nurse.”
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