Professor Frances Dodd has been appointed as the new Executive Nurse Director for NHS Forth Valley, following a competitive recruitment process which attracted a high calibre of senior nursing candidates from across the country.

Professor Frances Dodd, Executive Nurse Director for NHS Forth Valley

Frances will join NHS Forth Valley from the Scottish Ambulance Service where she is the Director of Care Quality and Professional Development with leadership responsibility for a wide range of areas. These include Person Centred Care, Patient Experience, Clinical Leadership Development, Education and Professional Development, Quality Improvement, Advanced Practice Development, Infection Prevention and Control, Public Protection, Mental Health and Dementia Care.

Frances began her nursing career in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde where she trained as a registered nurse at the Victoria Infirmary and spent the majority of her clinical career within a perioperative environment. She then moved to NHS Lanarkshire where she held a number of Senior Service and Nurse Management roles including Senior Nurse for Medicine and Anaesthetics, Associate Nurse Director for Surgery and Critical Care and Associate Nurse Director for Primary Care before becoming the Director of Nursing for Acute Services.

Cathie Cowan, Chief Executive of NHS Forth Valley, said: “I am delighted that Frances will be joining us as our new Nurse Director and I, along with colleagues across the organisation, look forward to working with her to lead, develop and support local nursing and midwifery staff across NHS Forth Valley.

“Frances brings with her extensive experience across pre-hospital, acute and primary care services which will be invaluable as we continue to recover from the pandemic and drive forward a number of important service developments to further improve the care of local people.”

Frances Dodd said: “I am delighted to be joining NHS Forth Valley as their new Nurse Director and look forward to working with nursing and midwifery colleagues across the organisation to build on the excellent work that they are doing so far.

“Improving the care and experience of local people will be a key priority and I am committed to listening and using patient feedback to drive forward changes.”