The Department of Health (DH) has scrapped the role of chief nursing officer (CNO), replacing the position with two roles: a principal adviser on public health nursing and a CNO for its new NHS Commissioning Board.
Professor Viv Bennett, former deputy chief nursing officer, has been appointed to the principal adviser on public health nursing role, as well as being given the role of director of nursing within the DH.
Bennett will work alongside the new NHS Commissioning Board’s CNO, a role that is expected to be filled in the next few months, the Government said.
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Health secretary Andrew Lansley said that Bennett’s role would make her the country’s top nurse for public health and that her role would “provide leadership to the workforce and help the public to live healthy lives”.
Bennett said that she was “honoured and excited” to be taking up the role, adding: “As a nurse and a health visitor, I am passionate about the application of nursing and midwifery skills and knowledge to improving and protecting the public’s health.”
