Christine Beasley

Last updated

Dame Christine Joan Beasley, DBE (born 13 June 1944, in Essex, England) [1] is a British nurse and NHS healthcare administrator.

Contents

Career

Beasley was educated at Westcliff High School for Girls, Southend-on-Sea, Essex. [2] She began training in 1962 at the Royal London Hospital and worked as a staff nurse. During most of the 1970s she took a career gap to support her young family, returning to work as a district nurse in Ealing in 1979. [2] In the 1980s/early 90s she took on senior roles at the Ealing and Riverside Health Authorities, before moving into wider regional nurse director posts at North Thames Regional Health Authority. [3]

She has held a range of senior posts with a broad experience of policy development, leadership and general management including Head of Development with the Directorate of Health and Social Care and Director of Nursing, Human Resources & Organisational Development with the NHS Executive. She established the London Standing Conference, engaging nurses across the capital in leading service improvement and contributing to improvements in clinical practice across the country. [3]

Beasley was Chief Nursing Officer for England from October 2004 until 2012. [3] She was a strong supporter of the lead provided by nurses in tackling infections of patients in hospitals caused by Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in the early 2000s. [2]

She retired from the civil service in June 2012. Since 2012 Beasley has been a Non-Executive director at the NHS Trust Development Authority, [4] a trustee of the Burdett Trust for Nursing since 2011 and also chair of the London region of Health Education England. She chaired the Florence Nightingale Museum and the council of the University of Buckingham. [2]

She was made a fellow of the Royal College of Nursing in 2012. [5]

In 2020, her continued professional activity included advocacy for improvements to nurse training and retention. Her opinion was that the many nurse vacancies that caused difficulties in dealing with the COVID-19 epidemic were caused by a lack of investment in nursing for over a decade. These included reductions in training places and removal of training bursaries in 2016 as well as poor retention of trained nurses including those from EU countries once Britain decided to leave the EU in 2016. [2]

Honorary Doctorates

Beasley was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Sheffield Hallam University in 2008 [6] and an Honorary Doctorate of Health from Plymouth University in 2010. [7]

Affiliations

Damehood

She was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2008 Birthday Honours. [3]

Personal life

Beasley is the mother of three sons. [8]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery</span> Academic faculty

The Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery & Palliative Care is an academic faculty within King's College London. The faculty is the world's first nursing school to be continuously connected to a fully serving hospital and medical school. Established on 9 July 1860 by Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing, it was a model for many similar training schools through the UK, Commonwealth and other countries for the latter half of the 19th century. It is primarily concerned with the education of people to become nurses and midwives. It also carries out nursing research, continuing professional development and postgraduate programmes. The Faculty forms part of the Waterloo campus on the South Bank of the River Thames and is now one of the largest faculties in the university.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Betty Kershaw</span> English nursing administrator and academic (born 1943)

Dame Janet Elizabeth Murray Kershaw is an English nurse who served as professor of nursing and dean at the School of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Sheffield from 1999 to 2006.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">June Clark (nurse)</span>

Dame Margaret June Clark, FAANFLSW is Professor Emeritus of Community Nursing, at Swansea University in Wales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sarah Mullally</span> Bishop of London

Dame Sarah Elisabeth Mullally, is a British Anglican bishop, Lord Spiritual and former nurse. She has been Bishop of London since 8 March 2018. She is the first woman to hold this position. From 1999 to 2004, she was England's Chief Nursing Officer and the National Health Service's director of patient experience for England; from July 2015 until 2018, she was Bishop of Crediton, a suffragan bishop in the Diocese of Exeter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elizabeth Anionwu</span> British nurse, professor and activist (born 1947)

Dame Elizabeth Nneka Anionwu is a British nurse, health care administrator, lecturer, and Emeritus Professor of Nursing at the University of West London.

Dame Elizabeth Harriet Fradd, DBE, FRCN, is a British nursing administrator. Between 1973–1983, she held a variety of registered nurse, midwife and health visitor posts, while training as a children’s nurse who also managed children's units in Nottingham and worked as a nursing officer at the Department of Health.

Dame Phyllis Muriel Friend, was a British nurse and nursing officer.

Dame Jacqueline Docherty, DBE is a British nursing administrator and medical professional, who was Chief Executive of West Middlesex University Hospital in February 2009 until its merger with Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, having previously served as Director of Nursing, Director of Operations and Deputy Chief Executive at King's College Hospital, London.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ellen Musson</span>

Dame Ellen Mary Musson, DBE was Chair of the General Nursing Council for England and Wales. Her nursing career began in 1898. She served prominently at St Bartholomew's Hospital, West Smithfield, London.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alicia Lloyd Still</span> British nurse

Dame Alicia Frances Jane Lloyd Still, DBE, RRC, SRN (1869–1944) was a British nurse, teacher, hospital matron and leader of her profession. She was one of the leaders in the campaign for state registration of nurses. Following the Nurses Registration Act 1919, she was a member of the General Nursing Council (1920-1937). As chairwoman of the General Nursing Council's first Education and Examinations Committee she helped establish the first national examination standards for the registration of nurses.

Ainna Fawcett-Hensey is an Irish nurse who is a Fellow of the Royal College of Nursing in the UK.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Muriel Powell (nurse)</span> British nurse, hospital matron, nurse educator and public servant

Dame Muriel Betty Powell, DBE, was a British nurse, hospital matron, nurse educator, public servant, and Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) for the Scottish Home and Health Department (SHHD) 1970-76.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rosalind Paget</span> British nurse and reformer (1855–1948)

Dame Mary Rosalind Paget, DBE, ARRC, was a noted British nurse, midwife and reformer. She was the first superintendent, later inspector general, of the Queen's Jubilee Institute for District Nursing, which was renamed as the Queen's Institute of District Nursing in 1928 and as the Queen's Nursing Institute in 1973.

Dame Elizabeth Cockayne, DBE was Chief Nursing Officer from the inception of the National Health Service in 1948 until her retirement a decade later in 1958. She was succeeded by Dame Kathleen Raven.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anne Marie Rafferty</span> British nurse

Dame Anne Marie Rafferty FRCN is a British nurse, academic and researcher. She is professor of nursing policy and former dean of the Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery and Palliative Care at King's College London. She served as President of the Royal College of Nursing from 2019 to 2021.

Dame Catherine Mary Hall was a British nurse and nursing administrator who was a long serving General Secretary of the UK's Royal College of Nursing (1957–1982).

Dame Eileen Sills, is the Chief Nurse, Director of Patient Experience and Infection Control and a member of the board at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust. She was the first Freedom to Speak Up National Guardian.

Laura Serrant, is a British nurse and academic. She is currently Regional Head of Nursing for North East and Yorkshire at Health Education England and Professor of at Manchester Metropolitan University where she was previously Head of Department.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ruth May (nurse)</span> British nurse administrator

Dame Ruth Rosemarie Beverley,, known professionally as Ruth May, is a British nurse. Since 2019, she has served as the Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) for England and an executive/national director at NHS England and NHS Improvement where she is also the national director responsible for infection prevention and control.

Dame Hilary Anne Chapman, is a British former Chief Nurse at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Honorary Professor at Sheffield Hallam University. She was appointed as Lord Lieutenant of South Yorkshire on 5 November 2021.

References

  1. Profile Archived 24 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine , Debretts.com; accessed 14 November 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Mulholland, Helene (31 March 2020). "Christine Beasley: 'Nursing was in difficulty before coronavirus came along'". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Dame Christine Beasley". The Queen's Nursing Institute. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
  4. "Dame Christine Beasley, DBE | All-Party Parliamentary Health Group". healthinparliament.org.uk. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
  5. Royal College of Nursing (2022). "RCN Fellowship Roll of Honour".
  6. "Dame Christine Beasley DBE Honorary Doctorate – 2008". Sheffield Hallam University. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
  7. "University of Plymouth honorary doctorates". University of Plymouth. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
  8. Christine Beasley profile Archived 7 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine , florence-nightingale-foundation.org.uk; accessed 14 November 2015.