Healthcare Commission Welcomes New National Clinical Advisor For Nursing, UK

Main Category: Nursing / Midwifery
Article Date: 21 Apr 2008 - 4:00 PDT

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Senior nurse Ann Close joins the Healthcare Commission this month as a national clinical advisor, responsible for providing the Commission with senior strategic advice on issues related to nursing and patient care.

Professor Close is currently Nursing Director and Director of Infection Prevention and Control at The Dudley Group of Hospitals NHS Trust in the West Midlands. She will continue in her role at Dudley while acting as an advisor to the Commission.

Professor Close said: "I am delighted to be taking on this role as a national clinical advisor to the Healthcare Commission, and see it as an opportunity to work towards further improvements in patient care.

"I hope to use the role to engage nurses in the importance of monitoring and assessing the care that they provide, as a means of bringing greater accountability to the work that they do."

Professor Close has over 35 years experience working in the NHS, including 14 years in her current role as Nursing Director. She has published extensively and in 2007 was awarded a visiting professorship from the Birmingham City University (formerly University of Central England) for her services to nursing.

Professor Close joins a small team of national clinical advisors at the Healthcare Commission. The other national advisors are Professor David Haslam, general practitioner and President of the Royal College of GPs, and Danny Keenan, consultant cardiothoracic surgeon at Manchester Royal Infirmary. Professor Close takes over from Dame Catherine Elcoat who left the Commission last year following her appointment as Director of Nursing and Patient Care at NHS East Midlands.

The Healthcare Commission is the health watchdog in England. It keeps check on health services to ensure that they are meeting standards in a range of areas. The Commission also promotes improvements in the quality of healthcare and public health in England through independent, authoritative, patient-centred assessments of those who provide services.

Responsibility for inspection and investigation of NHS bodies and the independent sector in Wales rests with Healthcare Inspectorate Wales (HIW). The Healthcare Commission has certain statutory functions in Wales which include producing an annual report on the state of healthcare in England and Wales, national improvement reviews in England and Wales, and working with HIW to ensure that relevant cross-border issues are managed effectively.

The Healthcare Commission does not cover Scotland as it has its own body, NHS Quality Improvement Scotland. The Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority (RQIA) undertakes regular reviews of the quality of services in Northern Ireland.

The Healthcare Commission