Professor Viv Bennett
Pro-Chancellor, your Excellency, my Lord-Lieutenant, distinguished friends, colleagues, graduands and guests.
‘Good nursing care is a central pillar of public health and strong nursing leadership must be at the heart of this’. These were the words of Health Secretary Andrew Lansley as he announced the appointment of Viv Bennett as Director of Nursing, an appointment that marked the latest stage in a career exemplifying public service in the health sector.
Although born in London, Viv Bennett was raised in Oxfordshire, where a large part of her early career took place. Having considered healthcare as a career option while she was at school, she decided that nursing offered her the greatest variety and opportunity. She trained as a nurse in Oxford in 1976 and worked as a staff nurse in a paediatric ward before training as a health visitor in Oxford in the early 1980s. She was employed as a health visitor and later as a research health visitor in Oxford whilst at the same time studying for a Bachelor of Arts through the Open University and then a Masters degree in health and social policy at Bristol University.
She has worked in a number of NHS operational management and commissioning roles and undertaken nurse executive roles in both provider and commissioning organisations across the West Midlands. This has included a number of years within the Coventry and Warwickshire locality, working for South Warwickshire Primary Care Trust and most recently as Director of Strategy and Redesign and Chief Nurse at Coventry Primary Care Trust. She has worked for strategic health authorities and local government on projects relating to nursing strategy and services for children and families. In her clinical commissioning role she has made major contributions across a range of spheres in the city to improve health outcomes.
In November 2007, Viv joined the Department of Health as Deputy Chief Nursing Officer. This role included providing professional and clinical advice to Ministers, as well as leading on professional and policy development for a range of services and health issues. She was the professional lead for the National Health Visiting Programme and the School Nurse Development programme, and led the nursing contribution to public health and to commissioning. Her portfolio included primary and community care and community nursing, mental health and learning disability and services for children and families.
In 2012 she was appointed as the Department of Health’s Director of Nursing and the Government’s Principal Advisor on Public Health Nursing. As such her main responsibility is to offer independent advice across government on policy issues and public health nursing. She has also been appointed the Acting Lead Nurse at Public Health England. Clearly Viv believes in the importance of making the most of every opportunity that presents itself. Her career evidences the value of being open to the experience of new roles and new organisations. It is no surprise that she is a keen advocate of clinical leadership development. Her new role will offer her the opportunity to enhance the status of nursing across the NHS, as well as within the public health and social care sectors and within academia. She is a Fellow of the Queen’s Nursing Institute and a Visiting Professor at King’s College London.
To get away from the pressures of work she enjoys walking – both for leisure and for charity. She also enjoys travelling, particularly to Shanghai where two of her children currently live.
In recognition of her services to the National Health Service and for her contribution to improving health services in Coventry and Warwickshire, Coventry University, by decision of the Academic Board, has the privilege of conferring the Degree of Doctor of Business Administration, honoris causa, on Viv Bennett.